Broken Mirrors
by twinthundershark
Summary: Shadow wants to be the coolest phantom thief the world has ever seen. His sister Rose wants to enjoy what's left of her life. Hachi is mostly just along for the ride. A story of thieves and detectives and all the chaos in between. Cross-posted on AO3 and Wattpad. Chapter 7: "If I don't get home on time, Mom'll probably come get me."
1. Chapter 1

**a/n: this chapter is pretty much the same as canon except for outfit descriptions and the section at the end, so feel free to skim it. the canon divergence becomes more obvious later on in the story.**

* * *

"Amazing!"

"They're on the roof!"

"They say it's burglars…"

"You won't escape this time!" The call echoes across the roof, bringing the fleeing pair of thieves to a skittering halt. They turn around simultaneously, one lifting a strange object and pointing it at the feet of his pursuers. A beam of blood-red light refracts off the glass below and spreads towards the herd of officers, causing them to backtrack wildly out of its path. However, as the harmless glow illuminates their chests, they realize their error and turn back to the duo.

"As we announced we would," chirps the pink-haired girl on the right, "we'll be taking the Golden Elephant, Inspector Oniyama!" She waves the statue in her hand towards him, grinning.

"Like hell you will! After them!" The inspector commands his subordinates forward, once more, in pursuit. The boy exchanges glances with his partner and they split off in opposite directions, smoothly dancing out of the grasp of the officers in their path and letting them crash to the ground. The inspector himself catches the girl's skirt and she stops to face him.

"Inspector! That's no way to treat a lady," she cries indignantly, tugging her dress out of his grasp. "What would your wife think?" Freed, she skips backwards to rejoin her companion.

"Don't mock me!" Oniyama yells. He tugs something out of his pocket and throws it, trapping an arm of each thief in handcuffs. They look at each other, seemingly shocked, before turning to face the inspector. Oniyama grins and holds up the ropes in his hand, tied to the handcuffs like improvised leashes. "What will you do now? You're completely trapped." He grins.

"Huh, guess we are," the boy says, shrugging. "Guess we'll have to return the elephant." The girl tosses it to the inspector and he moves to catch it, but it explodes and envelops him in smoke before he can. "Or maybe not."

"Now, everyone watch closely," the girl calls, swiping the top hat off her companion with her free hand. He cries, "Rose!" in protest but she ignores him, instead saying, "Your roots are showing, brother," while patting his head with the top hat to emphasize the hints of black mingling with his light blue hair. She grins back at the frozen officers, waving the hat in front of her handcuffs as Oniyama flaps his hand to clear the smoke and curses her.

"Tada!" She spreads her arms wide and waves her freed left one in the air as she holds the hat in front of her brother's arms. He plucks it out of her hand, both arms freed just as quickly.

"The real elephant was right here," he says, pulling the statue out of the hat and replacing it firmly on his head. He waves it and the officers start, running towards the thieves. Oniyama goes to follow, but trips over the handcuffs suddenly wrapped around his arms and legs. He is trampled by the stampede of officers as the boy raises his weapon (an umbrella) again. He grins sharply and flicks it on. "Lightning Flash!" A bright light shines out from the point and blinds the officers.

The light shuts off abruptly and the policeman blink quickly, vision slowly returning. "Shadow and Rose…vanished!"

Another yells, "Hey, the inspector disappeared too!"

"Idiots," Oniyama mutters from behind them, splayed out on the ground. The officers hurry to help him. As he slowly stands, Rose giggles from behind him. She and her brother are standing beyond the safety guard of the roof, barely a millimeter from the edge of the skyscraper. "Be careful," the inspector cries, rushing towards them. "If you stand there, you'll fall!" He continues to try to coax them away from the edge but they ignore him completely.

Shadow takes off his hat and digs around inside. He pulls his arm out and throws glitter into the air, letting it blow in the wind. The glitter begins to form letters that spell out the names of the two thieves. Rose grins, holding her brother's arm. "What a nice wind tonight!" Then she seems to slip, tipping precariously over the edge as Shadow cries out. She safely stands back up on the edge, singing, "Just kidding!"

She wraps her arms around Shadow. "Well, take care," they say simultaneously, before jumping off the edge of the building. The crowd below screams, drowning out the cries of the inspector.

"Whoa! The burglars jumped off!"

"We aren't burglars," Shadow yells, raising the umbrella once more. It opens and starts to spin in his hands, lifting him and his sister out of free-fall. "We're Phantom Thieves Shadow…"

"…and Rose!" she finishes. They are carried off by the wind, laughing all the way, as the police and the crowd below stare in awe. Finally, they vanish into the night sky.

Somewhere on the ground, a young boy gets a very bad idea.

* * *

"Phantom Thieves Shadow and Rose…?"

Oniyama nods, although the man is not looking at him. "Yes. They're terrible tricksters who let nothing stand in their way, fearsome criminals wrapped in mystery."

The man turns and smirks, petting the pink teddy bear in his arms, but remains quiet.

"Mister Kaneari," Oniyama continues, "this advance notice was received by the police station."

Kaneari frowns and takes the proffered card. The notice is short and to the point:

"Tonight, we'll be taking the Dragon Gem owned by Mister Kaneari. –Phantom Thieves Shadow and Rose"

He murmurs, "The Dragon Gem…?" However, before he can say anything more, the door slams open.

"Lord Kaneari!" A frazzled-looking secretary stops in the doorway, eyes locking onto Oniyama and his assistants. "Ah! Guests!" She bows. "Please pardon the intrusion!"

Kaneari smiles. "This is indeed my secretary, Kaneko." He walks towards her and she quickly skitters across the room.

"Lord Kaneari, we received this card earlier." He takes it from her hands, and compares it to the one he is holding.

"Ah, it is indeed the same notice."

"B-but don't you worry!" Kaneari and his secretary look up at Oniyama's outburst. "Now that I, Dokusaburo Oniyama, am here, we will catch those wretched thieves and…" He and the girls on either side launch into a pantomime of beating criminals over the head, while their audience watches, unimpressed.

"That won't be necessary!" The policemen freeze and look up. Kaneari laughs and throws the notices into the air. "Just who do you think I am, indeed?" He begins to discuss the security, showing off the cameras and armed guards posted across the mansion, before chasing the police out. Kaneko walks them to the door, and offers them cookies as consolation before shutting the door in their faces.

* * *

A shadow slips down from the ceiling and into the showroom noiselessly, covering the camera in the corner with gum to hide his face. He lets out a breath and takes off towards the gem, only to set off another trap. He lets out an involuntary yelp as he grips the edge of the new hole beneath him, staring wide-eyed at the spikes pointed at him. "H-help!"

The door opens and closes, and he finds himself looking up the skirt of Kaneari's secretary. She looks around the room and mutters, "He wasn't kidding. This place is loaded!" The boy, looking up at her, notices something. Could this person be…?

She squats to the ground in front of him. "Hey, what are you doing down there?"

"Help," he pleads. "I'm gonna fall…"

"Hmm…are you after the Dragon Gem?"

"I'm gonna fall! I'm gonna die!"

"Jeez, my opponent falling into such a crappy trap, I dunno about you…I mean, this is really basic, almost comedic…" She ponders the relative novelty of his situation as he continues to grip the tile for dear life. Suddenly, she notices something, and yanks him out of the hole with one hand, whispering, "Hide!"

Guards burst into the showroom, having noticed the blinded camera. They point their guns at the person inside before realizing…

"Fools! You are late, indeed!"

"Lord Kaneari," one of the guards stutters. "W-what are you doing here?"

Kaneari chastises them for their lax security and chases them out of the room. He pulls a card out of nowhere and holds it up to the showroom, pressing the corner. He then throws it backwards with precision accuracy. It slides into the place where the boy's glue was, showing a seemingly empty showroom to the camera. "You can come out now…"

The boy drops the camouflage he had been holding. "Are you…Phantom Thief Rose?" The resemblance to the secretary was unmistakable, although she had disguised as Kaneari too…

The thief snorts. "No, but close." He pulls the disguise off with a flourish, revealing his trademark outfit. "I'm the mysterious shadow cast by the full moon, Phantom Thief Shadow!" He sweeps his cape elegantly behind him to punctuate the declaration.

"Really? That's so cool! But…where's the other one?"

Shadow seems to wilt a bit before straightening again. "She's at home with a cold, but we couldn't just cancel because of that."

"Oh…" There's a moment of pause before he tackles Shadow into a hug. "Thank you so much," he cries. "I nearly died!"

"Hey! Let go! You're gonna get snot on me!" He shoves the boy down. "I'm just gonna take the treasure as repayment."

The boy gasps, and runs to put himself in between Shadow and the gem. "No! I have to have this!"

"Then you should have taken it before I got here. Move." He slides the boy to the side and kneels to inspect the gem's case.

"But that gem is the treasure of my hometown!" He grips Shadow's vest.

"I don't really care."

"At least listen to me!" He tackles Shadow to hold him down. "I'm a rookie burglar, my name is Hachi!"

"I said I don't care," he mutters, but listens anyway as Hachi explains why he needs the jewel.

At the end of the long-winded explanation, he puts his hands on Hachi's shoulders and maneuvers him away. "Even so, being a burglar is bad."

"But you're a burglar too," he protests.

"Am not! I'm a phantom thief," Shadow replies, like it explains everything.

"Isn't it the same thing?" Hachi asks.

"Nope!" Shadow walks around the case, glancing between it and a holographic visor. "Phantom thieves aren't quiet about stealing. And you warn them first, so it's more of a challenge than anything."

"That's some logic…"

"There's a bomb in here," Shadow interrupts. The visor turns red and vanishes as Hachi looks up in surprise. "If we try to force the case, it'll explode." He huffs and turns away. "What a nasty rich guy."

"There's no way to open it?"

"Nope!"

"I can't accept that." Hachi rounds the side of the case. "There has to be a way to…"

"Hey, be careful." Shadow's voice dips into a teasing tone. "Wouldn't want to…" He glances at one of the paintings lining the walls. The glasses of the portrait lady(?) light up and fire a focused beam. Shadow tackles Hachi out of the way in time, and they roll to a stop past the display case. Hachi stands, but Shadow curls up, gripping his leg where it was hit. Alarms start to blare around them.

Shadow winces and hauls himself to a sitting position as Hachi apologizes profusely. He helps Shadow stand and moves to flee, but Shadow stops him.

"We aren't leaving yet. The treasure's still there," he says.

"What? But you said the case was impossible to open," Hachi contests.

Shadow grins maliciously. "Doesn't mean we can't steal it."

* * *

"You thieves!" Kaneari slams open the door to his showroom, guards in tow. The room is empty. He blinks and cautiously edges inside, wary of traps. However, the only visible difference is that there are two cases instead of one, holding two identical Dragon Gems. He runs up to the cases with his men, but there don't seem to be any visible differences. "What is this?"

"This is the twins' doing," Oniyama answers thoughtfully, approaching from behind them. "One of them must be disguised as a fake case."

"Inspector Oniyama, how…"

"I was doing a stakeout outside. This is how they normally operate. However, I can't tell which one is real."

One of the guards pipes up, "Should we shoot them both?"

"Idiot! What if you hit the one with the bomb inside?" He huffs and explains how the case is opened with his teddy bear, twisting its nose. The real case opens, while the fake one merely twitches.

"Incredible! So this one must be one of the twins," Oniyama says, reaching for the fake case.

"Not so fast, Inspector." Oniyama stops and turns to look at him, only to come face-to-face with the barrel of a gun. "You won't be getting anywhere with a leg like that. You're obviously not the real Inspector!"

Shadow sighs and pulls off the disguise. "Yeah, the real inspector is still asleep in his car, thanks to my sleeping powder cookies. Oh, so's your assistant."

Kaneari curses him and he rolls his eyes.

The guards point their guns at the case. "So, this is Rose?"

"Nope." The case expands into a sphere and pops, and Hachi rushes to Shadow's side. "Oh, cool. That Image Gum stuff actually works," he mutters, skillfully ignoring the incredulous stare Hachi gives him.

"Who's this brat?" Without waiting for an answer, Kaneari continues, "Well, I'll just stuff and mount two burglars at once!"

"I'm not a burglar," Shadow argues. "I'm a phantom thief."

"They are indeed the same thing!"

"They are not," he protests. He glances at Hachi, at the treasure, then back at Hachi. "Look, they're completely different. A phantom thief can make miracles happen!" He waves his arm and smoke fills the room. When it clears, Kaneari is surrounded by Shadows.

"Hey, what is this? I can't get it off!" The Shadows pull at their clothes, and Kaneari realizes that they must be his guards, all disguised as Shadow.

He yells, "That should wear off in five minutes! The last one to be Shadow is the real one! Until then, nobody leaves this room!" He races towards the door, shoving two "Shadows" out of the way. He bursts through the door and slams it shut.

The "Shadows" glance around at each other. "The last one to be Shadow, huh?"

* * *

The five minutes pass and, one by one, the "Shadows" begin to expand and pop, revealing the guards underneath. They cheer briefly for their own safety before looking around for the final Shadow. They find him sitting against the wall, breathing heavily. He looks up at them fearfully but doesn't say a word. They surround him, guns aimed. "Give it up! This is over!"

He twitches, then his own body begins to expand. The final "Shadow" pops to reveal Kaneari, bound and gagged. The soldiers glance at each other in shock. "T-that means…the Lord Kaneari that left before…"

Behind them, the Dragon Gem expands and pops into nothing.

They jump and run for the door to chase the escaped thief.

Meanwhile, Inspector Oniyama and his assistants awaken, although Oniyama denies having fallen asleep at all. Soon after, there is a pounding at the window of the police car. Oniyama yelps at the face pressed against the window.

As he rolls down the window, Kaneari asks, "D-did I run by here just now?"

The police stare at him. "What are you talking about?"

A motorcycle zooms by at top speed, and Hachi leans over from in front of Shadow to wave goodbye. Shadow yells, "Take care!" as he disappears down the road.

"Shadow!" Kaneari yells, punching his teddy bear in the face in anger. This sets off the bomb inside the mansion, to his horror. Everyone present stops and watches in open-mouthed shock for a moment.

"Ginko! After him!" The purple-haired girl in the front seat sits up straight and the police car takes off, leaving Kaneari behind.

"Mr. Shadow! You really are a miracle maker! I want to be just like you," Hachi cries once they're on the open highway.

"Is that right?" Shadow responds, grinning. Then, after a moment of pause, he says, "Hey, kid. Keep the gem."

Hachi blinks, glancing down at the gem he's holding on to. "Is that alright?"

"You're the one who stole it from the case. Treasure's what you take with your own hands."

"But…" Hachi protests.

"Don't make me change my mind," Shadow warns.

"O-okay!" Hachi looks down at the gem in contemplative silence for a moment before he bursts out, "Please make me your apprentice!"

"W-what?" The motorcycle swerves dangerously before Shadow regains control. "Where did that come from?"

"Please!"

"No way! Why would I-" A police car pulls up beside them, driving at the same speed. Shadow yelps.

Oniyama leans out the window and yells, "You aren't getting away, Shadow!"

Shadow mutters a string of curses under his breath before pushing the motorcycle to top speed. "As if anyone could keep up with my Black Speeder!"

"Don't underestimate my Devil Chaser!" Ginko screams as the police car accelerates.

Shadow weaves his bike through traffic with precision, but the police car stays right at his heels. He huffs and accelerates, nearing the guardrail at a sharp turn. "Hold on tight," he commands. Hachi grips the seat with all the force he can muster, tucking the Dragon Gem into his shirt. Shadow flicks a switch as they approach the guard rail and they launch up and over it, hitting the road below with less of a jolt than Hachi suspected. Shadow murmurs something about his shocks before taking off again. However, not a moment later, the police car lands behind them, and the chase continues.

"Five kilometers to destination," the bike's dashboard sings, screen lighting up. Shadow grins and turns the bike sharply to the left with only a slight decrease in speed. The police car follows suit and follows him all the way down the road.

Shadow turns again into a construction site. He drives into the building and into the elevator, hitting a button to shut the doors. "Go!" he yells into the stairwell in front of him. There's no response but a clatter upstairs, but suddenly the floor shifts and begins to move up. Shadow dismounts and glances at Hachi. "You alright?"

Hachi sits in shock for a moment more before nodding and patting his chest to ensure the Dragon Gem is still in place.

"Come see this then." Shadow beckons him over to a window, grin still in place. Hachi runs over and looks out.

The room he is in is slowly rising above the site below, and he can barely make out the faces of the shocked police officers. Shadow waves cheerfully at them as a female voice echoes outside, "This is our final miracle tonight! Take care, Inspector!"

Oniyama yells something back at them, but he's too far away to hear. Shadow rolls his eyes and turns back to the stairwell. "Can you bring down the first-aid stuff? I'm kind of bleeding down here."

This time the girl's voice from before responds, "Coming!" and Shadow sits down on the ground heavily. Hachi looks around the room and realizes it must be a garage. Shadow's motorcycle is parked askew where he left it, beside a car decorated in a dark purple. There are tools and pieces of machinery scattered all over the place.

Shadow's eyes widen, as if he's just realized something, and he hurriedly calls, "By the way, we have…" He trails off as a girl comes running down the stairs, holding a blanket around her with both hands. Bandages, disinfectant, and a first-aid kit float around her, glowing a light pink. She locks eyes with Hachi and gasps, and everything clatters to the floor. "…company," Shadow finishes, resigned.

There's a brief moment of awkward silence before they both start arguing at the same time. The girl immediately breaks into a coughing fit, and Shadow falls silent as well. When she seems to have recovered, he starts yelling again.

"What are you thinking, using your powers like that?"

"You didn't tell me we had company in time," the girl responds simply, getting to her knees. "Move your pant leg up."

Shadow does as commanded before arguing, "You know that isn't the point, Rose. You shouldn't be using them at all, especially in this condition. You know what'll happen if you "

Rose cuts him off. "If I didn't, I'd know by how many times you remind me. I know my limits. Besides, I have much more right than you do to decide what I do with my own powers, brother." She punctuates the last statement by pulling the bandage around his leg tight, to the point where Shadow winces. She huffs and turns to Hachi, suddenly all smiles. "I don't think we've been introduced. I'm " she sneezes into her sleeve "I'm Rose."

"I-I'm Hachi!" He stands at attention, hoping to make a good impression.

"He has the Dragon Gem. He wants to be my apprentice," Shadow says dryly, leaning back.

"Is that right?" Rose leans forward earnestly. "So what are your talents?"

"U-um…! I'm a ninja, so I can be really quiet, and I'm good at hiding! A-and, my mom says I can cook really well "

"You're hired," Rose interrupts.

"W-what!?" Shadow and Hachi chorus.

"Well, brother and I are both really bad at cooking, so it'd be nice to have someone to help with that!" At her brother's glare, she coughs a bit more and adds, "Plus, it sounds like you have potential as a phantom thief too! If you're really sure this is what you want to do…"

"I'm sure!"

"Then I don't see why not!" Rose finishes brightly.

Hachi cheers. Rose stands and walks back towards the stairs, stoutly ignoring her brother's glare. "Come on, brother, Hachi. No point in staying in the garage all night." Shadow clambers to his feet, wary of his injured leg, and follows her, Hachi at his heels. Shadow and Rose walks side-by-side and whisper to each other, arguing over something, while Hachi just looks around.

The top of the stairs opens into a wide living area with a kitchen on the side. Rose takes Hachi by the hand before he can look around and marches him straight through and out a door the other side. Wind hits him in the face and he stumbles briefly, but joins the twins to look over the railing.

The sight below is nothing short of spectacular. The entire city is lit up below him, glowing buildings and cars illuminating the small balcony. "This is the world we phantom thieves live in," says Rose, leaning over the balcony. "It's a world that goes on forever."

"What do you think?" Shadow asks, from Hachi's other side. "Do you think you can keep up with us?"

Hachi smiles widely, thrilled. "Yes!"

"Well then," they sing, synchronized, "Welcome to our endless night!"


	2. Chapter 2

_Several quiet weeks passed since the Dragon Gem heist. The twins' airship, the "North Star" floated aimlessly in space, with little activity on board. Rose, in the process of recovering from her cold, passed it on to Shadow, and heists were out of the question with both twins incapacitated. By the time they recovered, Kaneari had already broadcasted a revenge challenge: The Mermaid Crystal, set to be revealed on his Poseidon luxury liner. The twins gleefully accepted the challenge, and told Hachi to prepare. "This will be your first real heist as our apprentice!"_

 **Chapter 3**

Hachi holds himself high as he enters the living room, making sure to show that he's capable. Today is the day of the heist, and he is absolutely certain he's prepared for whatever happens.

…except for the tall mummy sitting on the couch, drinking tea through the bandages wrapped all around its face. Rose glances up at Hachi from the opposite couch, and waves him over. "Hachi, this is Dark Eye, our other assistant. Dark Eye, this is Hachi. I was telling you about him earlier."

Dark Eye nods at him. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Hachi."

"N-nice to meet you too," Hachi responds. "I didn't know you worked for Mister Shadow and Miss Rose too."

"I only work part-time," Dark Eye says apologetically. "I have…other engagements."

"Oh, hey, Dark Eye." Shadow walks into the room, putting his hat on his head. He glances at Rose. "Are we ready to go?"

"I think so. Hachi, are you ready for your first official heist with us?"

Hachi nods vigorously.

Rose grins. "Then let's go!"

* * *

Oniyama scans the crowd gathered for the costume party. "Joker must be around here somewhere," he mutters.

Beside him, Momo takes another plateful of the food offered on the table. "This is good!" Ginko agrees, but points out the decorations: pictures of the Kaneari family line the walls, and Kaneari himself is on the cake. "Money can't buy taste," she mutters thoughtfully.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Kaneko speaks from the front of the stage, interrupting all conversation. She is adorned in an orange ball gown and a matching crown. "Welcome to the Gold Group's fiftieth anniversary costume party!" A trap door in the floor opens, and a golden statue on a black metal pedestal begins to rise. "Look at this! It's a true rarity in this world, a blue gem! This is what's known as the Mermaid's Crystal!"

A boy on the other side of the table shakes his head. "They're almost asking for it to get stolen at this point," he mutters. He flicks his fedora up and glances at the person next to him.

"Now, on behalf of the Gold Group," Kaneko continues, "Mister Kaneari will make a brief statement."

Just then, laughter echoes throughout the room. Oniyama perks up. "Th-that voice…!"

A panel in the ceiling slides open noiselessly, and Shadow descends through the gap, perched giddily upon a lift.

"Hello, everyone," he says. "Are you enjoying the party?" He hops effortlessly over the railing and onto the ground as the crowd erupts into whispers. "Surprised? I am "

"Shadow! You've finally shown yourself!" Oniyama quickly knocks the surprised thief to the ground. He tackles him to hold him down, accompanied by most of Kaneari's guards.

"You _i_ _diot_! It's me, indeed!" Shadow rips off his mask to reveal Kaneari underneath. The surprised officers quickly back off, allowing him to stand. "It's a costume party, and I wanted to surprise everyone! Indeed, what were you thinking?!"

"You know we got an advance notice from Joker!" Oniyama protests "You're just acting stupid!" He and Kaneari enter into a screaming match.

Meanwhile, the boy in the fedora rolls his eyes, and he disappears with his partner into the crowd.

* * *

"Hey, brother! Did you hear that?" Rose bounces over to Shadow, giggling. "He said this party is supposed to be his 'revenge' against us!" She adjusts the hat on her costume. She'd insisted on coming as a witch since she found out it was a costume party.

"You're obviously feeling better," Shadow responds dryly. He glances through the kitchen door at the party, which has recovered from the antics of its host and is now in full swing.

"Oh, and nice work, chef!" Rose pats Hachi on the back. He's standing on a stool in order to reach the pot he's stirring, and Shadow Is twisting his face in a heroic effort to abstain from making a teasing remark.

Instead he glances into the pot. "Oh, curry, huh? Pie would be better."

Dark Eye enters the room, setting down a tray of empty glasses. "They may have some pie outside, if you'd like to go look."

Hachi looks over at Dark Eye. "Is it really alright to be relaxing like this?" he asks. He looks back at the twins. "And how did we end up working when you two are in costume?"

Rose waves his concerns away. "Neither of us can cook," she laughs. "And besides, it's better to have all positions covered, right?"

"We'll probably get out of the kitchen soon," Shadow adds, grinning, "and let the _chefs_ do their work."

Rose nods and turns around, nearly running straight into the person standing in the doorway.

The blue-haired boy holds his hands up defensively. "Sorry, miss witch, did I startle you?" he asks, slightly bewildered. He's wearing what looks to be a purple Peter Pan costume.

Both of the twins tense up. Rose laughs nervously. "Yeah, you sort of snuck up on me there."

"Sorry," the boy says again, pushing up his glasses. "I've been told I have a tendency to do that. Not that I can complain it's rather beneficial in my line of work."

Rose tilts her head, slowly relaxing. "Your line of work?"

"I'm a detective. I'm here to capture the thieves after the Mermaid Crystal. I'm actually quite surprised," he adds, "that Mister Kaneari hired me in the first place. I haven't taken on a job this big before."

Rose laughs. "I guess he thought anyone would be better than the police."

"After the spectacle they made of themselves last time? I'm not surprised." The blue haired boy glances back out into the ballroom. "I have to go," he says distractedly. "My name is Spade. Tell me if you see anything strange, alright?"

Rose nods, and Spade wanders back into the ballroom. She turns to her brother and says, "I'm worried about him calling me 'miss witch.'"

Hachi blinks. "Wasn't he talking about your costume?"

Rose and Shadow both turn to him, shocked. They look down at Rose's burgundy dress, at each other, then back at Hachi before sighing in unison.

"Yes," Rose declares with more emphasis than necessary. "Yes, he was talking about my costume." She and Shadow stare at each other for a few seconds more before seemingly coming to a decision.

"We should...re-evaluate the plan for the heist. But...not here," Rose says slowly.

"Somewhere where people won't interrupt," Shadow adds.

"There's a deck at the front of the boat," Dark Eye suggests. "I understand it's mostly abandoned due to the cold weather."

Rose nods. "Let's go there, then." She turns and walks out of the kitchen, her brother at her heels. Hachi and Dark Eye rush to follow.

Rose and Shadow lean closer together than normal on the way out, and remain unusually quiet. Hachi turns to Dark Eye, who has worked with them longer.

"Has this happened before?" he asks.

Dark Eye tilts their head. "No," they murmur, leaning slightly so Hachi can hear. "But there have been similar incidents. They'll recover quickly."

Hachi is still concerned, but they've reached the deck and Dark Eye has darted ahead of him, effectively ending the conversation.

* * *

"I could disguise as Kaneari, and just walk off with 'my' crystal. Though it'd be trouble if I was discovered." Shadow looks up at the sky for ideas, exasperated. He and his sister are both out of costume and in their normal outfits. Rose is convinced that they've been discovered and is insisting on developing a backup plan...right here, right now. They've been bouncing ideas around for a few minutes, but haven't managed to agree to anything concrete.

"Um..." Hachi interrupts. "Didn't you guys come up with some sort of plan beforehand?"

"Huh?" Shadow turns to him. "Of course we have a plan, and it's a great plan, but Rose is all _freaked out_ so I gotta change everything at the last minute because she thinks maybe this detective is, like, omnipotent."

"Says the one who got shot in the leg by a wall painting," Rose mutters.

Shadow bristles. "If _Rose_ hadn't gotten so freaked out by that Spade guy, we wouldn't even be out here."

Rose's hands ball into fists, but Hachi interrupts again. "Come to think of it, why were you so worried about him calling you 'witch'?"

Rose and Shadow flinch at the same time. Rose waves her hands frantically. "It...It's nothing!" she says. "Don't worry about it!"

Hachi frowns. "Huh? But..."

Dark Eye nudges him. "They said not to worry, so don't."

"That's..." He is interrupted again by a yell.

"You two are...Shadow and Rose!" Oniyama stops on the edge of the deck for just a moment in shock, before charging at them at full speed, companions in tow. "You're _so_ under arrest!"

"We haven't even done anything yet," Shadow mutters.

Rose calls out, "Dark Eye!"

Dark Eye steps in front of them and calls, "Evil Glance!" Their face begins to glow brightly, and Shadow covers his face and Hachi's with his cape. When the light fades and Shadow drops the cape, all three officers are out cold.

"Th-that was cool!" Hachi cries.

Rose high-fives Dark Eye. "Nice job!" She turns to her brother and says cheerfully, "So that trick's ready to go if you want to use it."

Shadow rolls his eyes and mutters something under his breath, but acquiesces grudgingly.

Rose grin, takes him by the wrist, and drags him off, assistants at her heels.

* * *

They haven't made it two steps into the ballroom before Rose runs headfirst into a partygoer. They both fall backwards as Shadow steps out of the way.

"Oww..." the boy whines, picking his phone up from where he dropped it. "I guess that's why they say don't walk while you're looking at your phone." He looks up at Rose and quickly adjusts the fedora on his head. "Are you okay?"

She nods. "Are you?"

"Yeah." He stands and holds a hand out to her. "I'm sorry about that, by the way. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

She takes his hand and stands. "It's no big deal," she responds. "I've walked into walls before."

He laughs. "Me too." He looks away and adds sadly, "And then I get laughed at..." His phone starts ringing and he jumps. He holds up a finger and says, "Sorry, I have to answer this."

Rose waves him off and he wanders away, quickly getting into an argument with whoever is on the end of the line. She wonders if the white hair is a part of his costume too, or just his natural color.

Shadow looks at her sideways and murmurs, "You're making all sorts of interesting friends tonight."

She sighs. "At least this one didn't call me witch." She shakes her head. "Anyway, Dark Eye, get in position," she commands.

Shadow tugs Hachi away. "We'll watch from somewhere else."

A few minutes later, Kaneko takes the stage, bringing a hush over the crowd. "Now, it's time to declare the winner of the costume contest!" she announces into the microphone, speaking over the triumphant music in the background.

"The winner will indeed receive a one-year supply of our company's Mr. Cookie!" Kaneari adds triumphantly.

Before they can go any further, the ballroom doors open and Dark Eye strides in, chuckling. They walk boldly to the stage until they are surrounded by guards.

"Who are you?" Kaneari demands.

Oniyama and his assistants, having recently awakened, dash into the room on Dark Eye's tail. "Be careful!" Oniyama yells. "He's with Shadow and Rose!"

Between the guards and officers, Dark Eye is surrounded, but they just chuckle again.

"Is everyone enjoying the party?" they ask, holding out their hands. "Tonight, I will take you all to a world of dazzling dreams!" Their mask begins to glow again, and they call, "Evil Glance!"

Oniyama tries to cover his eyes, but the rest of the guards aren't as lucky.

The light fades and... nothing has changed.

Oniyama relaxes. "It didn't work that time," he murmurs.

Dark Eye takes a step back and turns to run, but is tackled by Oniyama's assistants who yell, "You're under arrest!"

Oniyama watches, wondering aloud, "Why didn't it work that time?"

"Because they didn't have this." Spade appears behind them out of nowhere, and Oniyama jumps. Spade waves a tranquilizer gun in his direction. "The point of that is to get you all focused on that eye, so the twins can knock you out with a tranquilizer," he explains. "My assistant stole it from one of them earlier and replaced it with a fake."

On the other side of the ballroom, the gun in Rose's hands expands and pops, just like the Image Gum she and her brother use. Left in its place is a single playing card, a joker. Her eyes widen and she takes a step towards Dark Eye, but a playing card embeds itself in a column mere millimeters from her head and she freezes.

The boy she ran into earlier steps out of the crowd and grins, tipping up his hat. "Sorry, can't let you do that."

She gasps and takes a step back. "You...you stole it when you bumped into me," she realizes.

"Guilty as charged. Code name's Joker, by the way."

In any other situation, Rose would introduce herself with all the showiness of a thief, but she is far too preoccupied at the moment. She glances at Joker cautiously. "Aren't you going to arrest me?" she challenges, preparing to fight back.

"Nah," he says nonchalantly. "Efficiency is nice and all, but I don't want your brother pointing that umbrella near party guests. I'll just hold you here until your little accomplice is locked up."

 _Where_ is _Shadow when I need him_ , she thinks, gaze wandering the room. "And then you'll just let me go?"

"I'm sure you'll give me plenty of other opportunities," he taunts, watching her closely.

Someone brushes Rose's skirt and she realizes with relief that her brother is right behind her, but before she can move Joker's phone rings again.

"Looks like you're free," he mutters, walking off. Rose hears a distinct yell of "I was _not_ messing around with random girls, you..." before he's swallowed by the crowd.

Once she's sure he's gone, she relaxes slightly and turns to Shadow. "That was that Spade guy's assistant," she whispers, and he nods.

"Go get Dark Eye next?" Shadow asks.

"Of course!" She looks down at Hachi, still attached to Shadow's legs, and offers her hand. "You come with me, and brother can get set up for his trick, alright?"

Hachi takes the proffered hand, and Rose leads him away.

* * *

Dark Eye stands tall and proud in the cage, refusing to let their fear show even as Kaneari taunts them from the other side of the bars.

"This is a special cage I made for the twins," he says. He walks over to a lever at the wall and levels Dark Eye with a grin that is only slightly deranged. "Now watch, indeed!"

He pulls the lever, and electricity begins to hum through the bars. Dark Eye makes a small surprised noise and backs away.

"If you touch them, you're indeed in for a shock!" Kaneari yells. He then angles his teddy bear towards Dark Eye and whispers conspiratorially, "By the way, if I press Kintaro's nose, the whole cage goes up in a big BANG!" He nods to himself. "Indeed, you'd best not even dream of escaping."

"Lord Kaneari!" Kaneko calls, entering the room. "It's time to announce the prizes! Please come back upstairs."

Kaneari acquiesces, saying only, "Do send a guard down to watch this thief while I'm gone."

Kaneko nods, smiling.

* * *

Trumpets call the crowd's attention to the main stage, and Kaneko announces, "Now, it's time to present the prizes! To make the announcement-" she gestures widely to the stage on her left- "here's Mr. Kaneari!"

The lights go dark, and a spotlight lights the ground near the left stage entrance. Shadow steps out into the light and grins at Oniyama in the audience.

"S-Shadow?!" he says, surprised.

"He's not disguised?" Ginko whispers next to him. "He's basically asking us to arrest him!"

Whispers ring out through the audience as Shadow approaches center stage.

"Are we going after him?" Momo asks.

"But…what if it's the wrong one again?"

"Not even Shadow would be so bold-faced…" Ginko trails off.

"Really, it's too bold!" Momo agrees.

Oniyama realizes, "Yes! That impossible boldness…it must be the real one!" He runs up to the stage, accompanied by guards, and surrounds Shadow. "Mr. Kaneari, won't you show me your face?"

The crowd agrees, cheering, "Show it! Show it!"

"Beg your pardon," he murmurs, pulling at Shadow's cheek…and pulling off the mask.

"You're a fool indeed!" Kaneari yells, as Oniyama stares at him in shock. "I've indeed had enough of this! How many times must I remind you that this is a costume party?!"

"N-no, I've had enough!" Oniyama protests. "Stop mixing me up already!"

"Lord Kaneari," Kaneko interrupts. "What a brilliant costume!"

He nods smugly and, taking off the costume, says, "Then the winner of the costume party must be me!"

His laughing face appears on the screen as Kaneko announces, "The grand prize goes to Mr. Kaneari!"

"Then, now that the party is over, I'll just be taking my mermaid…" Kaneari turns towards the statue, but is quickly interrupted.

"Don't touch the statue, thief." Spade stands in front of Oniyama, gun aimed at Kaneari.

"What are you doing?" Oniyama tries to pull him back, but he dodges out of the way.

"You didn't notice?" Spade asks, not looking away from Kaneari. "He got sloppy when you messed up. He changed his speech patterns."

Kaneari scoffs. "For the sake of the announcement. How dare you attack me?"

"Besides," Spade continues, not backing down even as the guards, previously after Kaneari, take aim at him, "Kaneari was very insistent that we display the statue until the end of the party, even with the huge security risk. The fact that you'd try to take it down now, when there's still an hour and a half before we reach the port…"

He trails off, but the point is made, and Kaneari looks distinctly uncomfortable. The guards lower their guns, looking confusedly between Spade and Kaneari.

"I must admit, I hadn't considered the possibility of a two-layer disguise." Spade smiles, almost charmingly if not for the sharp edge. "You really live up to your reputation, Shadow."

Shadow sighs and pulls off the disguise. "Well, I guess since I've been caught, I'll…"

He grabs the crystal and turns to run, but doesn't even get off the stage before Spade calls out, "Ice Shot!" A block of ice forms around Shadow's left foot, rooting him to the ground. He turns around with wide eyes as Spade grins at him, still holding the oddly-shaped gun.

Kaneko cries from behind him, "Where's the real Lord Kaneari?"

"I am indeed right here," Kaneari calls, appearing on stage from Shadow's other side. Joker follows him out, tugging a handcuffed Rose.

She looks at Shadow and her face morphs from annoyed to terrified. Joker grins. "Yeah, she tied him up downstairs. I caught her, but the accomplices are missing."

Oniyama straightens, finding words again. "We'll go find them!"

Spade glances at him derisively, before sighing and waving him off. He turns to Kaneari. "I don't suppose you have somewhere more secure to keep them?"

* * *

Shadow and Rose stand in a cage on the stage, on full display to the crowd. Kaneari, after having had his fill of mocking them himself, had put them there and announced that the party was now a "the-twins-have-been-captured" celebration. Oniyama is still in the crowd searching for Hachi and Dark Eye, and Spade and Joker have disappeared, presumably to do the same.

"Sorry," Rose whispers. "He snuck up on me, I didn't get time to react."

"It's alright," Shadow responds, trying to sound reassuring. "We both underestimated them."

"That's an understatement," she sighs, glancing over the ballroom. Two chefs exit the kitchen, pushing a cart loaded with plates of curry, and the attention of the crowd is quickly diverted.

The cart passes the stage first, and the chefs offer plates to Kaneari and his assistant. When they start eating (with a cry of "It is indeed delicious!") the cart starts moving again, and Hachi grins at the twins from under his too-big chef's hat as he passes the cage.

Shadow and Rose watch in slight awe as the crowd begins to fall, including Kaneari and the guards. They aren't dead, Rose notes with some relief, merely asleep. Hachi comes running up to the cage as Dark Eye takes the remote from a sleeping Kaneko. The bars release and Shadow and Rose duck out.

"You guys saved us, huh?" Shadow says.

Hachi grins even wider. "We mixed the tranquilizer from Miss Rose's gun into the curry!" he says proudly.

"We have such good apprentices, brother!" Rose cheers, and Hachi blushes.

"Shall we be going then?" Dark Eye asks.

Shadow grabs the Mermaid's Crystal under one arm and leads the charge outdoors.

"What on earth happened here?"

Spade stands at the front of the stage, holding Kaneari's half-eaten curry plate at arm's length. "Of all the traps," he muses, "they had to pick the one that Joker would actually fall for." He looks up at them and adds, as an afterthought, "I'm not letting you get away, though!"

Shadow takes Rose by the arm and they run, assistants in tow.

They reach the deck of the ship, Spade on their heels, and come to a stop as the wind picks up. Their airship is flying overhead, and a capsule extends downwards to bring the statue up. Shadow places it safely inside as Rose turns to Spade and chirps, "This is our airship! Isn't it neat?"

Shadow turns around as the statue begins to lift into the airship and declares, "Good luck getting the treasure back now!"

Spade watches the treasure lift up into the airship silently, face unreadable. When the hatch closes, he cracks a small smile and says, "I could say the same to you."

Shadow and Rose turn to him, confused. Behind them, there is a pop and a blast of air as a completely different airship reveals itself.

"Joker had Image Gum earlier," Rose whispers.

Shadow curses quietly.

"It'll be hard to get that down," Spade advises them cheerfully. "Especially with Joker up there guarding it."

Hachi turns to him, eyes wide. "But...didn't we knock him out?"

"No, but you would have if he'd been there." He winks. "Better luck next time." He walks towards them, and Shadow tenses in preparation for a fight, but he passes right by them to a ladder unfurling from the airship.

Shadow blinks. "You aren't going to try to capture us?"

Spade shrugs. "The assignment was to stop you from getting the crystal. We accomplished that. Besides," he adds teasingly, "I think you need the chance to redeem yourselves."

Shadow bristles at the comment, but Spade is already out of reach. "Adios!" he calls, leaving the thieves on the deck to stare mutely up at the ship.

"I never thought a detective could beat you," Hachi murmurs.

Rose and Shadow exchange dejected glances, then break into grins. Dark Eye tilts their head, concerned.

"That was fun! We haven't been defeated like that in years!" Rose says cheerfully.

Shadow holds up a fist. "I'm going to make him regret that!"

"You aren't upset?" Hachi cries, awestruck.

"Of course not! We're phantom thieves!" Rose responds. "If we got upset at every little challenge, we wouldn't be able to do anything!"

"Plus, y'know, the normal police are..." Shadow trails off at the sound of footsteps. Sure enough, Kaneari and Oniyama round the corner, yelling.

"Time to go," Shadow says, and Rose grabs Hachi's hand, pulling him over to the side of the deck. Shadow jumps over the railing, and Rose follows suit, holding Hachi. They land in a small boat running alongside the giant cruise ship, and she lets him go as Dark Eye lands behind them.

"Take care, Inspector!" Rose calls as the boat speeds off.

Kaneari curses them, and a few moments later there's an explosion as the bomb he had planted in the prison goes off.

Shadow winces. "You'd think he'd learn."

"Some people never do." Rose walks up to stand next to Shadow at the front of the boat. "So what should we go after next?"

"You're planning already?" Dark Eye asks, surprised.

"Of course!" They turn to face the apprentices, and Shadow continues, "We're going to face off against those two again!"

"And next time," Rose finishes, "we won't lose!"


	3. Chapter 3

_Only a week after the failed heist, Shadow and Rose announced their next target: the Ice Sculpture of Odin, a ten-foot-tall sculpture on display on the 88_ _th_ _floor of Valhalla Tower. Shadow chose it himself, and when Rose pointed out the difficulty of transporting the statue away without it breaking or melting, he just smirked and told her he had a plan. Today, that plan will be revealed to an eager audience!_

 **Chapter 3**

Hachi sits in the back seat of Shadow's car, with Dark Eye (still masked) beside him. Rose and Shadow are in the front seat, chatting excitedly.

"Hey, Mr. Shadow," Hachi starts.

"What's up?" Shadow calls back, not turning around.

"What was your plan for the heist? You never told us..."

"Yes, brother," Rose agrees teasingly. "What is this great secret plan of yours?"

Shadow grins. "I thought you'd never ask. Rose, you see that machine at your feet?"

Rose glances down and lifts a small cylindrical machine attached to a small, bright red tube. "What even _is this_?"

"It's a balloon pump I made," he explains cheerfully.

"Is this what you've been working on, non-stop, this whole time?"

"So anyway," he replies, deftly avoiding the question, "we can use that to inflate the balloon to any size. We're going to take the balloon, and we're going to blow it up around the statue, and then we can just roll it out!"

Rose stares at her brother for a moment in disbelief, then turns to Hachi and says brightly, "So I guess we're just going to make it up as we go!"

"Hey!" Shadow cries indignantly. Rose simply giggles.

* * *

"Well, here we are, Valhalla Tower!" Shadow spreads his arms wide as they enter the building, his argument with his sister momentarily forgotten. They're both dressed as normal teenagers, and they'd forced Hachi into a "subtle" disguise (kids' clothes) as well. Dark Eye only put on a newsboy cap; Hachi is beginning to wonder if they _have_ a face under that mask.

"I can't believe we just walked in the front door," Hachi mutters quietly, and Rose smiles.

"Inspector Oniyama is a fan of making the entrance wide and the exit narrow," she explains, just as quietly. "You'd think he would've learned that doesn't work by now!"

"Hey, I'm not complaining," Shadow responds as they crowd into the elevator. "The easier it is for us to get-" He stops suddenly as handcuffs lock around his wrist. Spade steps out from behind them, holding the other cuff.

"No, please," he deadpans, smirking. "Continue telling me _all_ about how easy it is for you to steal."

Shadow grimaces. The handcuffs fall off with a flick of his wrist, but when he takes a step backwards in the small elevator he nearly runs into Rose. The elevator devolves into chaos as Spade blocks their attempts to escape, and somewhere along the line the balloon pump Hachi is carrying activates. The balloon expands to massive proportions, forcing Spade and Shadow out just as the doors close. The elevator ascends as they watch, dumbfounded.

Spade stands first, brushing off his black coat. "Well. That was certainly different." He steps forward and calls the elevator again.

"Shut up." Shadow stands as well, stepping back just out of Spade's reach. "Joker's already upstairs?"

Spade's face twists into a tight smile. "Joker," he begins with a false cheeriness, "has not slept in five days. He tried to make…something….. yesterday, and now half of my wardrobe is covered in either glitter or red paint."

Shadow grins despite himself, and Spade sighs despairingly before continuing, "So he's going to get some sleep today, whether he likes it or not." Shadow stares at him for a moment, confused, and Spade adds, "I've locked him in our room. It'll hold him for all of ten seconds if he puts his mind to it, but he'll get the message."

Shadow has a realization. "So you two live together?"

Spade begins to answer, but is interrupted by the shrill ringing of the fire alarm. Voices blare on the intercom, urgently directing people out of the building and ordering them to avoid the 88th floor. "So much for the elevator," Spade mutters dryly. He sprints toward the stairs, Shadow at his heels.

* * *

Rose lets out a relieved sigh as the balloon finishes deflating. She picks up the pump again and mutters, "Well, that didn't go as planned."

Hachi tugs on her skirt. "Will Mister Shadow be okay down there with Spade?"

Rose pats his head lightly. "He'll be fine. Brother's tough."

"Either way," Dark Eye interrupts, "We'll be reaching the top before they do. Perhaps we can steal the treasure before he has a chance to stop us."

Rose laughs. "That'd be great!"

"Aah!" Hachi cries suddenly, face pressed to the glass wall of the elevator. "The Shuffle Sisters!"

Dark Eye flinches, unnoticed, as Rose walks over to the window. "The who?"

"The Shuffle Sisters!" Hachi repeats. He points to a screen on a nearby building. "They're an idol trio and they're amazing! My favorite is the oldest sister, Ai!" He begins to mimic their dance moves while Rose watches him, her expression a mix of embarrassment and amusement.

Dark Eye glances up at the slowly-rising floor number. "Something's wrong," they say quietly. A muffled alarm begins to blare.

"What do you mean?" Rose asks, just as smoke begins to leak into the elevator.

The elevator dings as the door opens, and the three thieves stare in shock at the fire spreading across the room. As if on cue, the elevator lights go out.

* * *

Shadow looks up the stairwell, preparing for a long climb. Spade, next to him, blows a bubblegum bubble and is suddenly airborne, and Shadow suddenly remembers the umbrella at his side.

"What is with you two and gum?" he mutters, turning it on and floating up next to Spade.

"Who, Joker and me?" Spade looks up. "I suppose you could say it's an inheritance. The person who raised us used it, and we just picked it up." He pauses briefly, then adds, "You and your sister use Image Gum as well, don't you?"

"Once or twice, maybe." They'd gotten a message from their old master a few days before the Dragon Gem heist with the instructions for making the gum and an invitation to "try it out". "Not sure where it came from, though."

Spade hums, then says, "The umbrella is new."

"I didn't bring it last time. Wouldn't fit with the disguise."

Spade smirks. "Not that it helped, right?"

Shadow ignores the comment in favor of swinging himself onto the landing of the 70th floor. Spade lands behind him as the bubble pops and vanishes. The fire shutter, designed to help contain the fire and prevent it from spreading, begins to automatically descend from the ceiling, threatening to cut them off in the stairwell. They manage to dive underneath before it slams onto the tile floor. They look up the stairwell as it fills with smoke.

"I hope they're safe up there," Shadow mutters.

"Is your sister that unreliable?" Spade asks lightly, passing Shadow as he bristles.

They race up the remaining flights of stairs, three or four steps at a time. The sudden "whoosh" of a playing card catches Shadow off guard as it whizzes past his ear and into the debris from the collapsing wall in front of him. The giant scattered fragments explode into harmless dust, saving him from a painful demise. He freezes and Spade runs past, winking at him as he rounds the corner.

Shadow reaches the top of the stairs, and is suddenly blown forward into the opposite wall as they explode under his feet. He looks back at the burning remains of the stairs. Spade pauses and peers around the corner behind him, concerned.

"Guess we can't use the stairs now," he muses. He glances at Shadow, sitting shocked on the ground. "Tired?"

Shadow huffs, standing. "This is nothing."

Spade shrugs. "It looks like the entrance is right here," he says, turning back around the corner. Shadow catches up to find him waiting at a door. " _88_ _th_ " glows in big green numbers next to it.

"Nowhere to go but up," Shadow mutters, turning the knob.

* * *

"Brother!" Rose runs up to the pair, stopped in the doorway. Spade looks over her head to survey the room. The ice sculpture sits in its wheeled case in the middle of the floor, and a small group of people (including the twins' assistants) have gathered around it. The fire can't spread on the tile floor, but it's climbing the walls, and Spade isn't sure how long they have before the ceiling caves. He winces at the thought and leaves the twins (still stopped in the doorway, conversing quietly about something Spade obviously isn't privy to,) to speak with the group of civilians.

A man in an orange jacket is yelling to nobody in particular, and only gets angrier as Spade approaches. "Great, more thieves. Who's going to come rescue us?" he demands. A woman protests that they're too far up for rescue, and the man complains that he, at least, should have been saved. Spade decides it isn't worth the effort to explain he's actually a detective and simply rolls his eyes in response.

Rose arrives behind him, dragging an oddly-passive Shadow by the arm. "None of them could get out," she explains, "so they just gathered here."

Spade nods, thinking. "The elevators are dead and the emergency stairs crumbled on our way up. Not that they'd help- shutters were dropped at the 70th floor."

Rose bites her lip, looking up to the ceiling for inspiration.

"The service elevator might be working." Spade and Rose both jump at the interruption. A man in beige clothing and a hard hat waves a hand. "I work here. I was doing maintenance on the sculpture when the fire broke out."

"There is a service elevator on the other end of the hall," Spade says, trying to picture what he remembers of the floor plans. "But we'd have to get through the flames first."

Rose tilts her head and questions, "Maintenance on the sculpture?"

The man nods. "We pump nitrogen gas into the case to keep the sculpture frozen. It comes in through that pipe."

Spade looks up. The pipe runs along the ceiling and out into the hallway, at which point it becomes obscured by smoke. "Where does the pipe go?"

"It runs down the hall to a tank outside," the worker replies.

"Why aren't you coming to save us?!" A man behind Spade begins yelling at his phone, presumably talking to rescuers, and Spade bites back a scoff, struggling to remain professional. "Some burglars have come to steal the Ice Sculpture of Odin," the man continues, "so why can't you people make it up here?"

"We're not burglars!" Shadow protests, finally tuning in to the conversation. "We're phantom thieves!"

"It's the same thing!" the man argues loudly. Spade gives the case an experimental shove, trying to block out the argument in the background.

"It's not-"

"That's it!" Rose whirls around at Spade's outburst. He tries and fails to control his grin as he says, "So, what do you say to finishing your heist?"

Rose frowns, looks from Spade to the pipe to the puddles formed by the ineffective sprinklers and back to Spade again, and her eyes widen. "That's a great idea!"

* * *

"It's done," the worker announces, stepping away from the case.

"Alright~!" Rose claps her hands together and turns to the rapt audience, already in full performer mode. "Are you two ready?"

"We're okay," Dark Eye responds.

"I'm ready to roll anytime!" Hachi adds.

The man in the orange jacket steps in. "Can you really get us through the fire this way?" he demands. "You have to be joking!"

Shadow shrugs. "Then you can just stay here until help comes."

"That's..."

"Let's go," Spade interrupts impatiently, trying to prevent another argument.

Shadow huffs and steps onto the small platform extending out from the front of the sculpture case, making it roll backwards slightly. Spade steps on as well as Rose herds the others to the back of the statue. Spade throws a playing card to puncture the pipe, and it sprays gas on the water on the floor, freezing it solid.

Rose calls out and the case begins to roll forward, pushed by the group. As it hits the ice, it gains traction and begins to slide, and everyone hops on the platforms. Shadow takes aim with his umbrella and blows another small hole in the pipe, extending the patch of ice further down the hall.

The little assistant (Hachi?) yells something to Shadow, who clicks his tongue and responds, "Anyone could have come up with a plan like this." Despite his bravado, he looks absolutely terrified.

Spade would rather Shadow not zone out again in this situation, so he throws another card and says, "If you were going to be scared, you should have ridden in the back with everyone else."

It has the desired effect: Shadow huffs and mutters, "Who's scared?" but seems to focus more.

The case rolls to the other end of the hall and out through the doors, and Spade and Shadow jump off, pushing it to a stop. The others jump off the case and run into the elevator, led by the man in the orange jacket. "Let's get out of here!"

The maintenance man hesitates. "But the others are still-"

"Who cares about those burglars?" he interrupts, pushing the button to shut the doors.

He presses it a few times, and then attempts to press other buttons. The elevator doesn't respond.

"This one's out too?" the maintenance man asks, cursing.

Behind them, a crash echoes through the hallway they just escaped from, sending smoke and flames into the landing. Hachi and Dark Eye jump into action, quickly shutting the doors.

"Brother, look," Rose calls, turning back to the sculpture. "It's melting already." Shadow sighs and mutters something under his breath.

"Nobody cares about that sculpture at a time like this!" someone yells from the elevator.

Waves of panic begin to spread through the group. As Dark Eye steps forward, the doors open again.

Rose shoulders the balloon pump, standing in the doorway. "We can't just give up now!" She looks into the flames, and adds, "Brother, stay here, okay?"

Shadow starts, "Wait, Rose…" as she fades into the flames. "Rose!" he cries again, but she's already gone.

Spade sighs, mutters a curse under his breath, and takes off after her.

The man in the orange jacket glares at Shadow. "Well? Aren't you going to abandon us too?"

Shadow blinks and says, after a moment of hesitation, "I…think Rose has something in mind. She wouldn't just _leave_."

Hachi looks up at him. "Is Miss Rose going to be okay?"

"Huh?" He waves his hand, completely unconcerned. "Oh, yeah. Fire and flames and stuff won't hurt her unless she lets it."

Hachi looks confused, but Shadow only offers a grin.

Dark Eye glances back towards the door. "That being said, I wonder what those two are doing out there."

Shadow frowns. "I hope he isn't trying to pick a fight with her," he grumbles, dropping his umbrella and letting it lean against the wall. He looks up at the statue. "It's melting really fast, huh?"

The hose comes flying up from beneath the stuck elevator, and Hachi turns to look at it just as Spade bursts through the door, panting, with the balloon pump around his back.

He drops it on the ground in front of the sculpture's case and points to the elevator. "Everyone, please get inside the elevator, quickly!"

"Isn't it stopped?" someone asks.

"Just do it!" he commands. He turns to Shadow. "You, too! And I'll be borrowing this," he adds, grabbing the umbrella.

"O-oi!" Shadow cries out in protest. "You can't take that!"

Spade waves his free hand. "Stop whining, I'll give it back." He offers an easy smile and adds, "I'm not a thief like _some_ people."

"I'm not _just_ a thief, I'm a-"

"You guys!" Rose whines from somewhere above their heads, and Shadow turns wildly in search of her voice.

"I'm trying," Spade calls back into the elevator shaft. "Your brother is just stubborn."

"You're not helping," she responds petulantly, as Spade all but shoves Shadow into the elevator.

"Try to move faster, okay?" Her voice echoes from above, and Spade nods before spinning on his heel and returning to the case.

"Wait, Rose, what's going on?" Shadow calls.

"We're going to drop the elevator!" she chirps.

"Can you try to maybe not sound so gleeful about it?" Spade mutters, kneeling beside the case as he fiddles with the balloon pump and hose.

Shadow blinks. "So... you do have a plan that won't kill us, right?"

"Of course! But we only get one shot, so this has to go perfect!"

"I don't know if I like those odds," Shadow says.

Spade fixes the balloon pump and the hose together, and attaches them to the case. He stands and turns towards the elevator as the light turns green. "Everyone grab onto the banister!"

Fearful complaints rise from the small crowd as Spade turns back to the pump. It beeps once…

…twice

…three times

….and turns solid green.

"Now!" he screams.

The elevator groans and begins to drop at a slow pace. Spade hops through the shaft, landing on the elevator roof just as it becomes level with the floor, joining Rose and handing her the umbrella. "I hope this works."

Rose smiles and fiddles with the umbrella as the elevator begins to gain speed, saying, "Of course it will! It's a miracle, after all."

"I don't normally deal in miracles," Spade responds, kneeling against the roof to brace himself as the elevator reaches a heart-stopping speed. Rose takes aim at the quickly-passing elevator doors, and he continues, "but I'll take your word on this one."

They land hard on the balloon cushioning the first few floors, and sink deeply into the rubber. Rose, somehow still standing against the inertia, fires the umbrella. The elevator doors in front of them burst open just as the elevator bounces against the balloon, forcing them up the shaft by one more floor.

They bounce down.

They bounce up.

They bounce down again.

Finally, they come to a standstill before the gaping hole Rose had blown into the elevator doors. The people inside the elevator begin to disembark slowly with a look of terrified gratitude on their faces.

From the top of the elevator, Rose blows away the doors on the floor above her, forming another exit for herself and Spade so they aren't forced to descend upon the terrified riders through the trap door. "See?" she chirps. "A miracle."

Spade lets out a long, shuddering breath. "I suppose. Let's go meet your brother." _I thought he was the crazy one_ , he adds silently.

* * *

At the bottom of the stairs, Rose crashes into Shadow, who is on his way up to find her. They form a messy sort of group hug with their assistants as Spade steps around them.

"I'll take responsibility for leading the civilians out," he says. "You two had better leave before the police come up here to capture you."

"You're not police?" Shadow asks wryly.

"No, just a detective." He smiles lightly. "I'll give you two a pass since you were helpful, so go."

Rose gives a cheerful salute to his back as he walks away.

* * *

"Seriously," Joker grumbles, running a hand through perpetually-messy white hair, "locking me up was excessive."

"It forced you to sleep, didn't it?" Spade replies sharply, sitting down across from him.

"Yeah, while you went and had fun without me." Joker is already eating, but he pauses to comment, "I heard there was a fire."

Spade sighs. "Not that it slowed those two down." He takes a sip of tea, then adds, "They remind me somewhat of you."

Joker grins. "What, smart and cooler than you?"

"Try _completely insane_."

"Hey!" Joker laughs. "I'm not that bad."

"Don't laugh, I almost died!" Spade complains.

"It was so bad that the cool-and-collected Spade was worried?" Joker asks teasingly. "What happened?"

"They brought this automatic balloon pump with them, so Rose put the balloon at the bottom of the shaft and filled it with the gas from the case. Then she dropped the elevator _nearly sixty floors_ onto it so we hit a floor that wasn't shuttered." He shakes his head. "And I had to ride on top of it."

Joker hums and leans back in the chair. "Have to respect a plan like that, though. Getting everyone out and keeping the statue cold."

Spade tilts his head, confused. Then, suddenly, his eyes widen and he jumps up, running out as Joker sits laughing behind him.

* * *

Inspector Oniyama strolls across the 88th floor of Valhalla Tower, his assistants behind him. "So this is the last place the survivors were," he muses. "The twins escaped, but they didn't get to steal anything either." He laughs as he opens the double doors. "The Ice Sculpture of Odin has probably already..."

The three yelp in unison. "I-It didn't melt!" The ice sculpture is still where the thieves left it, showing little sign of damage.

"T-that's impossible!" Oniyama cries. "How could it be unharmed after so long in the fire?"

"Looks like everything went perfectly after all, huh, brother?" The siblings step out from behind the sculpture.

"We'll be stealing this!" Shadow declares, but he is stopped as the front wheels of the case suddenly freeze solid to the ground.

Spade leans in the doorway, loosely twirling his gun with one finger. "I gave you a chance," he says calmly, "to escape freely. But seeing as you obviously didn't take it, I'll arrest you here."

Shadow flicks a switch on his umbrella and waits. When Spade takes a step around the officers, he fires, melting the ice on the wheels. He and his sister push the case quickly into the shaft and vanish with it. Spade begins to pursue, but he's pulled back by his jacket collar centimeters from the edge of the shaft.

"Spade, get back from there!"

Spade turns around and backs away, nearly on the shaft's edge. "Inspector?"

The inspector lets out a relieved breath, then begins to lecture. "You can't jump down there, do you know how high up we are?"

Spade pinches the bridge of his nose. "I would have been fine," he responds, trying to keep the whine out of his voice. "But I suppose it's too late now."

Momo pipes up. "You knew the statue wouldn't be melted?"

Spade sighs. "Not until it was too late, I'm afraid." Momo tilts her head, and he explains, "Since they sucked all the air out of the case with the balloon, the heat couldn't get in. Same principle as a vacuum flask." He pouts. "And I completely missed it. Too distracted by the fire, I suppose."

"Well," Ginko says, "a fire's not a bad reason."

Spade hums, then declares, "I won't make the same mistake twice. Next time, I'll take them down."


	4. Chapter 4

Spade stands in a room filled with light, harsh to the point he wants to avert his eyes. Breaking eye contact with the man in front of him, however, would betray his lack of confidence, and he's long since learned that any hesitation will be used against him.

"Do you understand why we're having this conversation, Spade?"

Spade swallows. "Because I failed to recover the treasure," he responds, taking care to keep his voice even.

The man in front of him leans forward in his chair, placing his elbows on the desk, and light glints against his monocle. "Why did you fail?"

Spade unconsciously stands straighter. "There was a fire at the heist location, and I-"

"No excuses," the man interrupts.

Spade takes a deep breath, choosing his words carefully, and continues, "I was distracted and did not notice the trap laid by the thieves until it was too late to pursue them."

"And where was Joker during all of this?" the man asks pointedly. "Surely he could have handled the thieves while you were... _distracted_ by this fire."

Spade winces. _Should have known that was coming._ "I didn't believe that he was in proper condition to attend, and was concerned that he would insist on pushing himself beyond his limits, so I took action to ensure he would rest properly."

"You mean," the man says calmly, "that you reacted immaturely to an action on his part, and were therefore left unprepared for the heist." He shakes his head, closing his eyes. "I must say, I'm disappointed in you. I thought you were above that." He looks up suddenly, narrowing his eyes. "Perhaps I would have expected this two or three years ago, but by now you should know better."

"I'm very sorry, sir." Spade relents, finally averting his eyes. "It won't happen again."

"It won't," the man agrees. Spade hesitates, and the man concludes, "You will not attend future heists."

Spade's eyes widen. "But...!" he begins, as a sort of protest, but is stopped by the look in the older man's eyes.

"I will not be embarrassed again," the man declares. "You will receive a new assignment soon."

Spade sighs, and the fight leaves him all at once. "Understood, sir."

"Summon Joker for me," the man commands. "You are dismissed."

Spade nods sharply, turns on his heel, and stalks out of the office.

* * *

Hachi wanders into the sitting room, where Rose and Shadow are once again arguing. Shadow tosses a quick glance at Hachi, but doesn't stop yelling.

"You know you shouldn't be using your powers like that! You could die!" His voice is a desperate whine, pronounced as a shout, and Rose, lying exhausted on the couch, covers her eyes with one arm.

"I wasn't going to just let people die so I could avoid a headache," she deadpans. "Could you maybe not yell so loudly?"

"You aren't _listening_ to me!" He huffs, but lowers his voice nonetheless. "It's not just a headache, and you know that. You're getting weaker. Rose, you have to stop."

Rose sighs but refuses to respond. Instead she sits up and smiles at Hachi. "Did you need something?" she asks.

"How do you do that?" Hachi blurts out without thinking.

Rose blinks. "Do what?" She pauses, then realizes, "Oh, you mean the floating thing." She grins, and holds a finger to her lips. "It's a secret."

"I-I won't tell anyone!" Hachi promises.

"Alright, since you've promised." She waves him over and confides, as if it's her darkest secret, "I'm a witch."

* * *

 _8 years ago_

* * *

Rose sings a wordless song as she watches the passing trees. It's her brother's turn to drive the cart, and he's completely focused on directing the horses, leaving her bored out of her mind. _Brother's too serious about this_ , she grumbles to herself. _It's not like something's going to jump out into the road…._

Something jumps out into the road. Cyan cries out and pulls back on the reins, and the blur of whatever-that-was jumps back into a tree. Rose squints for a moment, searching, before her eyes widen. The boy in the tree can't be much older than her and her brother, but he jumped from the ground to the tree branch as if gravity did not apply to him.

"Watch where you're going," the white-haired boy yells. "You could have killed me!"

"What?!" Cyan nearly jumps out of the cart himself, protesting, "You're the one who jumped out into the road!"

Rose holds her hand out in a pacifying motion. "Brother, calm down."

The branch the boy is standing on breaks, and he yelps, falling to the ground. Rose shouts, "Look out!" and stretches out her hands towards him. The boy freezes in place less than a foot from the ground.

His eyes widen as he cries, "What's going on?"

Cyan holds his hands out in front of Rose and demands, "Cut it out, Rose!" She loses concentration and the boy falls the last of the distance headfirst, landing face down in the dirt. "If you use too much of your power," Cyan continues, "it could kill you!"

Rose smiles. "I'm fine, brother. You worry too much."

The boy comes running up to the cart, apparently unhurt. "Hey! What's the trick to that?"

"There's no trick," Rose sings, as the playing cards, which spilled from the boy's backpack as he fell, float up and over to the cart.

"Rose!" Cyan glares at her, so she drops them and smiles.

"We should give the horses a rest," she suggests, attempting to distract him, and Cyan agrees, curious about the boy.

They unhitch the horses and lead them to the riverside. As the horses drink, they gather upon a pile of large rocks to chat. The boy introduces himself as Jack, so the twins give their own names.

"Were you heading to that village over there?" Jack asks, pointing into the distance.

Cyan and Rose nod, then explain simultaneously, "We were out running an errand for the elder."

Jack's eyes widen. "Wow, you're right in sync."

"That's 'cause we're twins," they respond at the same time, and grin.

Jack giggles, entertained, and they begin exchanging a series of random questions and answers about their lives. Jack chuckles and points out that every question he asked is always answered by both twins, again completely in sync.

Suddenly, Cyan gets a serious look on his face. "Hey, you," he begins, "don't tell anyone about what you saw earlier. Forget all of it."

"I could never forget something that cool!" Jack responds earnestly, and Rose has to stop Cyan from hitting him. "Hey," Jack adds bluntly, "teach me how to do it! Maybe I could do it too!"

"You can't," crows Cyan, suddenly smug. "I'm her twin and I can't do it. That power belongs to Rose alone."

Jack clasps his hands together. "If you teach me, I promise I'll forget."

Rose pretends to mull it over for her brother's sake, then declares, "It's a promise then!"

"What is it? What is it?" Jack leans in close, blatantly ignoring Cyan's protests.

Rose whispers into his ear, "I'm a witch."

"Oh." Jack nods, then pauses. "Wait, what?"

"Wouldn't it be easier to just show him?" Cyan asks, and Rose's eyes widen.

"You're right!" she exclaims. She jumps up and grabs Jack by the arm, tugging him by his sleeve towards the cart. "Come on, I'll show you my history."

* * *

Rose enters the cave first, with all the confidence of a self-important child. Cyan runs after her, hopping off the cart, and Jack tails him, unsure.

"Every few decades, someone in our village is born with special powers." Rose's voice echoes in the cave as she looks up at old art of the witches before her. "We can stop the flow of time, move it, and manipulate it freely."

"But," Cyan adds, joining Rose at her side, "to keep them from using that power for evil, we protect the secrets of the village, along with the Staff of Kairos that sealed the power of the ancestral witches."

Jack catches up with the twins, staring up at the tall mural.

"That's why the village doesn't have a name," Rose says. "So that no one will remember it."

Jack's eyes scan the mural, committing it all to memory despite his promise to forget. "So you basically have infinite powers?" he asks, confused. "That's kind of scary."

Rose waves her hands. "No, no, they aren't infinite! If I use them too much they start to sap away at my lifespan. That's why brother yells at me so much."

Cyan nods, justified. "It's better if the witches don't use their powers at all. They can just live normally, and nobody can ever know the difference."

Jack glances at him. "That seems kind of sad," he muses. "To have cool powers like that and never get to use them, and have nobody remember you."

"It's fine," she assures him, smiling cheerfully. "I already know I'm dangerous, so it's better to stay where I'll never be found." She keeps her eyes focused on the wall to avoid Cyan's gaze, and the perpetual argument over whether Rose herself is the dangerous one, or simply her power's ability to do harm. "If I get to live happily with brother, then I'm fine with being unknown." She glances at Cyan and smiles.

Cyan hesitates, but smiles back.

* * *

"But a nameless secret village, huh?" Jack starts, once they're on the road again. "That's pretty cool!"

"Now, you promised," Rose warns.

"What did you see before?" Cyan asks.

Jack looks up at the sky, feigning confusion. "Wait, what? What was it again?"

Rose and Cyan nod and chorus, "Well done!"

"Jack," Rose adds, to change the subject, "do you have any siblings?"

"Nope," he answers immediately, "but I do have partners that I train with."

Cyan glances at him, and Rose imagines she can see his eyes glittering. "Partners?" Cyan asks. "That sounds fun."

"It's not fun at all," Jack argues. "They play all sorts of tricks on me! And whenever one of us does something wrong, our Master's always like, 'Ooh, why can't you fight like she does?' or 'Ooh, why can't you behave like him?'" Jack's voice dips into a teasing tone as he mocks his "master", and he pouts. "It's irritating."

Rose points at Cyan and demands suddenly, in a falsetto tone, "Why can't you have powers like your sister?"

Cyan shudders. "That'd be awful."

Jack nods sharply and announces, "That's why I ran away from home."

Rose and Cyan nearly jump back in shock. A kid as young as them running away from home is unimaginable.

Cyan narrows his eyes. "What are you training to be, anyway?" he asks suspiciously.

"A secret agent," Jack answers simply, and Cyan snorts.

"You're just lying to us, aren't you?" he accuses.

"I'm not lying!" Jack glares at him, offended. "I'm going to be the best secret agent ever, and I'm gonna capture bad guys and save people and do all sorts of cool stuff!"

"I-it's nice to have dreams," Rose breaks in, attempting to pacify the impending argument. "I haven't found mine yet, but Brother says that when he grows up, he's going to travel to lots of countries!"

Jack tilts his head, then says, "Hey, if you follow me, we can all be agents together! We'll go all around the world doing that!"

Cyan huffs and looks away. "There's no way you're actually going to become a secret agent," he declares.

"I will too! I'll show- wait." Jack looks ahead as they cross the bridge. "What's going on down there?"

The village is on fire. Cyan pulls the cart to a stop, and he and Rose stare at it in shock. They exchange glances and jump off the cart, sprinting full speed with Jack on their heels.

They run into the village and look around, eyes wide. "What's going on?" Rose asks, terrified. Gunshots fire in the distance, and Jack appears from nowhere and pushes the twins behind a well. He leans out just far enough that he can see the group of dark-clothed soldiers a few yards away.

"Search that way!"

"Right!"

The soldiers scatter, and Jack stares at them with wide eyes.

Rose looks at him. "Who are those people?" she whispers.

Jack shakes his head. "It's dangerous to stay here. We need to go." He grabs her by the arm as he begins to run, and Cyan follows.

Cyan catches sight of the elder, and silently catches Rose's attention. The elder is tied up in the center of the village with a few other people, surrounded by guards.

"We have to go help her!" Cyan whispers fiercely.

"You can't!" Jack responds. "They have guns! _You_ can't do _anything_ against those!" Another soldier marches into the town center, and Jack whispers a curse and pulls Cyan and Rose behind a house to watch.

"Here it is!" The soldier announces, holding up a long staff. "The Staff of Kairos!"

"Please don't!" The elder pleads. "Anything but that!"

"Good. Our leader will be thrilled," hums one of the men, presumably the general, as he takes the staff. The remaining soldiers group around him, but he towers over most of them. From Rose's vantage point, the group, clothed in black and surrounded by flames, seems like a single monster out of a nightmare or TV show. "Now the witch!" the general commands, holding his free hand up in the air. "Find the witch who controls time!"

The soldiers nod and scatter. Cyan moves to help the elder, but Jack stops him. "Didn't you hear?" he hisses. "They're looking for your sister! Do you want to get her killed?"

"But..." Cyan looks at Rose, who stares back at him with wide, terrified eyes.

"What do we do, brother?" she whispers.

Cyan casts a last glance back at the elder, then turns to her and Jack, determined. "We escape," he declares.

"Alright!" Jack nods, and they dash for the bridge leading out of town.

Shouts echo through the village the moment they dart into the open, and Rose nearly trips, but Jack tugs her forward and they keep running. A gunshot whizzes past her, and she uses what little focus she can manage to put up a barrier behind them. Cyan almost argues, but the necessity is obvious, as more gunshots pelt the pink shield, so he lets it be. The soldiers are obviously gaining on them, however, Rose hopes that once they make it to the bridge they'll be able to escape. This turns out to be fruitless, as another armed group of soldiers is waiting for them there. Guns pointed in their faces, the children back up, but their pursuers are right behind them. Finding themselves surrounded by towering men, they group tightly together. Their fear seems only entertaining to the soldiers, some of whom actually begin to sneer. "Stay behind me," Jack murmurs, putting an arm in front of the twins.

"We found you, filthy witch," the general taunts, stepping forward. He reaches for Rose, and she cries out.

"Stay back!" Jack shouts, pulling a playing card from nowhere and tossing it at the man. It grazes his face lightly, leaving a thin cut.

The man scowls and picks Jack up by the front of his shirt. "Stay out of the way, brat!" he yells, and the soldiers aim their guns.

The general throws Jack, but at the last second one of the soldiers calls, "Wait!" and the guns are pulled back. A bullet scrapes Jack's face and he falls to the ground crying, gripping his eye. Rose screams.

A soldier hands the general the card Jack had thrown. He inspects it and throws it to the ground, cursing. "Why is _he_ here?" he demands.

Cyan edges closer to Rose, putting himself between her and the general. The general turns back to them and shoves him out of the way, picking Rose up by her dress. Cyan cries out and reaches for her, and the general commands, "Do it!"

A shot is fired, the echo sucked into the flames, and Jack calls out as Cyan hits the ground.

Rose gasps. _No. No!_

"No!" she shrieks. Something snaps, and her powers slip out of her grasp as she sobs. Distantly, she feels the general lose his grip on her, but she doesn't fall. Her energy swirls wildly around her, and the bridge begins to creak.

The air itself explodes, and everything goes white.

* * *

Less than a mile away, a man sits comfortably in an armchair, completely unaware of the conflict occurring just down the river. He's well past middle age, but is obviously in good shape despite severe facial scarring. Although he lives mostly alone, his house is decently-sized, with three bedrooms which he uses to store various treasures.

The man looks up from the book he's reading. "Doubt," he calls, and the purple-furred cat napping on the kitchen counter lifts her head, lazily flicking her ears at him.

"Did you know," he begins, "that uncoated metals in space can fuse together? It's called cold welding."

There's no response for a moment, then suddenly the cat drawls, "Clover, in what _universe_ will that _ever_ be useful to you?"

Clover ducks his head into his book, hiding a grin. "You never know."

"Next time you wake me up for a science fact," Doubt threatens, laying her head back down, "I _will_ claw your eyes out."

Clover knows she doesn't mean it, so he just hums and settles back in his armchair. They sit in silence for a while longer until Doubt suddenly sits straight up.

"Something's wrong," she announces.

"Ah, yes, thank you, Lady Doubt. Whatever would I do without you and your oh-so- _specific_ warnings," Clover deadpans, not moving.

Doubt glares at him and leaps off the counter, running across the living room. She hops up onto the sill of the window and looks out on the river. "There's something in the river," she informs him, then pauses and adds, "It's bleeding."

"What?" Clover drops his book and stares out the window, then turns and bolts out the door. Doubt follows him.

* * *

"Well, that river just brings Clover all sorts of interesting gifts," Doubt mutters to herself, watching the sleeping purple-haired girl on the couch. The girl is soaking wet and unresponsive, but otherwise uninjured, unlike the boy she washed ashore with. Clover had commanded Doubt to "watch her" and then moved the boy somewhere else to treat him.

Doubt lays her head back down, tail swishing back and forth in irritation. There isn't much to watch; the girl hasn't so much as twitched since Clover found her. Doubt begins to doze from her perch on the back of the chair until a loud thump shocks her awake. The girl is sitting on the ground in front of the couch, looking dazed- she must have fallen off. She blinks at Doubt with bleary red eyes and goes to stand, but her legs give out from under her and she collapses. Doubt hops off the chair and runs for Clover.

* * *

Clover enters the room cautiously, trying not to startle the girl. She looks at him and whimpers, "My head hurts."

He nods and approaches her slowly. "You should get some more rest, then. Let's lay back down on the couch." He sweeps her up and deposits her gently onto the cushions.

She murmurs, "I want my brother."

"He'll be fine," Clover assures her, although he's not completely sure if the boy in the next room is her brother. "It'll all be fine, so get some rest." He waits while she passes out again, then returns to Doubt in the bedroom.

"What happened?" Doubt asks.

Clover frowns and looks back out into the hall. "I think she nearly drowned in that river. She seems to be breathing fine, so I'll keep watch over her for now, but if something changes I'll probably have to move her."

Doubt watches him. "Shouldn't you take both of them to a hospital?" she questions.

"The boy will be fine," Clover responds, waving a hand absentmindedly. "Boys that age are resilient. The bullet didn't hit anything major, and I can handle gunshot wounds easily. Drowning is a different story, however. I'll have to keep watch over their breathing for now."

"You just don't want to go near a hospital," Doubt accuses, and Clover flinches.

"I'd rather keep watch over them here, yes. I'm perfectly equipped to deal with most injuries, and you know that. I took care of you, after all."

"You certainly couldn't go to the hospital if you needed to," Doubt acknowledges. "But can you take care of the kids?"

He glances back at the boy. "I'll do my best. As long as they're breathing alright, I can help them, and I'm trained to deal with emergencies as well. They should be fine."

Doubt tilts her head. "I suppose. I'll leave it up to you then." With a flick of her tail, she exits the room, off to check on the girl.

"But I wonder what happened to you," he wonders aloud to the sleeping boy. "That bullet wound isn't an accident, it's far too precise. Why are you and your sister here?" The boy offers no reply, so Clover sighs and picks up his book again, keeping an eye on the breathing of the child.

Around two hours later, Doubt returns and announces, "Purple-head seems like she's actually awake this time."

"Your fur is purple too," Clover reminds her, but he sets down his book and goes to check on the girl, leaving the armchair open for Doubt.

She is indeed awake, and shrinks back into the couch when he enters. He tries to offer a disarming smile and asks, "Are you feeling any better?"

"Who are you?" she whispers, staring at him with wide eyes.

"Well, you're more awake this time!" he says cheerfully. "That's a good sign. I'm Clover, what's your name?"

"Rose," she answers cautiously, then launches into a barrage of questions. "Where am I? What am I doing here? Where's my brother?"

"Slow down!" He holds up his hands in mock surrender. "You're in my house. If the boy with the black hair is your brother…?" he pauses while she nods, "...then I found you and your brother washed up in the river outside. I'm not sure what happened to you two, but he was bleeding badly, so I brought the two of you inside so I can treat him. He's asleep in the other room right now; you should let him rest. I am concerned about you as well, after being in that river for so long, so I'll request that if you have a hard time breathing you let me know immediately. Does that answer all your questions?"

She eyes him cautiously. "What do you want from us?" she finally asks. "Are you going to make us stay here?"

Clover shakes his head. "I just want to make sure you and your brother are safe and healthy, and then I'll send you home. On the subject of being safe, would you mind telling me how your brother was injured?"

She looks down. "I...I want to wait until brother wakes up," she says nervously.

"Ah. Well, in that case, I'm just going to go ahead and make something to eat. Any preferences?"

She hesitates and bites her lip, before deciding, "I don't have any, but brother takes his coffee black!"

Clover pauses, trying to imagine a child that small drinking plain black coffee. The image makes him laugh, but he stifles it and assures her, "I'll keep that in mind."

* * *

Rose watches the man from the corner of the kitchen. He seems to be nice, from the conversation earlier, and the soup he's making smells good. However, he's wearing a strange mask over the top half of his face and his right arm looks like it came from a robot, so she's still suspicious.

Clover catches her staring and turns to her. "What are you looking at?" he asks.

"What happened to your arm?" she blurts out, more curious than afraid.

He smiles mysteriously and turns back to the stove. "I lost it," he answers simply.

"Liar," she accuses.

"Nope, totally true. I didn't take proper care of it and it just...fell off. Haven't seen it since." She stares at him with wide eyes, shocked, but his face remains completely serious. "You have to be very careful with arms, you see, or..."

Rose cuts him off. "Did your face fall off too? How careless _are_ you?!" she demands, and is highly confused when he doubles over laughing.

Then he shakes his head and says, "In all honesty, what happened to my face and my arm all happened at the same time. There was an accident, but I'm alright now. Don't worry."

Rose smiles, satisfied for now, and settles in to wait for her brother to awaken.

* * *

"So what's your job, anyway?" Rose asks Clover as they enter the bedroom where her brother is sleeping. He had finally told her, as the soup simmered, that he had been hurt on his job a long time ago, and his face and arm bore the remnants of the accident.

"Oh, I don't do that job anymore," Clover assures her, setting a small bowl down for Doubt and placing his own on the dresser. Rose had refused a bowl, and Clover silently applauded her for not taking food from strangers. "I'm...I do magic instead."

Rose jumps. "You can do magic too?" she asks, surprised.

 _Ah, an aspiring magician?_ "Mmhmm. Making things appear and disappear, moving waterfalls without touching them, that sort of thing." He pulls a spoon from thin air to illustrate as Doubt watches him from the floor, vaguely entertained with his dramatics.

Rose stares at him for a long time. "I didn't think there was anyone else who could do magic like me," she whispers finally, and Clover blinks, confused.

"What sort of magic can you do?" Clover asks. She glances at the spoon in his hand, then furrows her brow and lifts a hand.

She then proceeds to collapse to the floor, gripping her head. Clover kneels down next to her hurriedly. "What happened?" he demands as she slowly sits up.

She winces at his voice. "I guess I used too much magic earlier. It hurts to use it now."

This makes absolutely no sense to Clover, but he doesn't want to worry her, so he nods sagely and responds, "You should rest for a bit then." He helps her get into the armchair previously occupied by Doubt, who pouts and hops onto the bed near the boy.

After Rose seems like she's recovered a bit, Clover says, "It's nice to have someone around who appreciates my magic. Normally it's just me and Lady Doubt, and she doesn't care about magic at all." He fakes a pout and adds sadly, "I rescued her out of that river and let her live in my house and that's all the thanks I get."

"You can only suffer through so many obscure chemistry jokes before you give up on being grateful," Doubt deadpans without opening her eyes.

Rose's eyes widen. "She can talk?" she gasps.

"Only to make fun of me," Clover accuses jokingly.

"You deserve it most of the time," Doubt responds. Then she suddenly slips off the bed as the covers shift and the boy opens his eyes.

Rose runs over to the bed. "Brother...?" she calls softly.

"Rose?" comes the raspy reply, and Clover joins Rose at the bedside just as the boy tries to sit up. He winces sharply and falls back down as Rose watches worriedly.

"No, no, don't move," Clover commands, sounding sharper than intended.

The boy fixes him with a surprisingly fierce glare. "Who are you?" he demands.

"This is Clover," Rose explains. "He rescued us from the river and helped make you better."

"You're nowhere near better yet, though," Clover interrupts. "You shouldn't move for a while, until you've healed a bit more. Would you tell me your name?"

The boy only glares at him, so Rose sighs and says, "He's Cyan." At Cyan's protests, she turns to him and declares, "Clover's nice. It's okay."

Cyan huffs. "Where's Jack, anyway? Did he come out okay?"

Both of the children turn to Clover, who stares back, confused. "I'm not sure who Jack is," he tells them. "I only found you two."

Rose's eyes widen. "Then...on the bridge...did I...?"

"Rose," Cyan interrupts, "what happened?"

"I'd like to know the same thing," Clover adds lightly, and Rose, on the verge of tears, begins to explain.

* * *

"What kind of monster chases down an eight-year-old with guns?" Clover mutters to himself, following the trail the twins had pointed out to him earlier. The conversation he had with them beforehand had been very enlightening, especially in regards to the rather important miscommunication between Clover and Rose. As it turned out, Rose's powers were _real_ , in contrast to Clover's talent with sleight-of-hand and improvised physics demonstrations. Cyan had been particularly angry about that one, claiming that Clover had somehow tricked Rose into revealing her abilities. Rose had mostly been disappointed.

Now here Clover is, on the way to find Cyan and Rose's guardian to discuss how to proceed. Although Rose is free to return to the village anytime if it's not dangerous for her to do so, Clover wants Cyan to stay in one place until he's healed. He doesn't intend to keep either of the children, of course, he just wants to make sure they're safe before he sends them home.

 _Of course_ , Clover muses silently, processing the view from the hill, _there might not be a home to come back to._

He wanders into the village, keeping an eye out for signs of life, but there doesn't seem to be anyone moving. By the time he stumbles across the first body, he's already made his decision. He does make an effort to find the village center and the home the twins had directed him too, but it seems the soldiers who had swept the village were determined to leave no survivors.

He turns and makes his way home, already planning for the addition of two apprentices.

* * *

"Listen," Clover begins, sweeping into his room. The twins look up at him in shock, and he smiles at him. "What would you say to staying here and becoming my apprentices?" he suggests, and Doubt wakes up, giving him a bewildered stare to match the children.

"Wait, didn't you say we could go home?" Rose cries. Cyan looks ready to jump out of bed again. Clover realizes with a start that, oh, the children were expecting to return to their village.

He holds his hands up. "Let me explain myself a bit. I spoke to the elder you mentioned," he's lying through his teeth, suddenly very glad for years of phantom thief experience, "and she agreed it may not be safe for the two of you to return to the village so soon after the attack. Especially you, Rose," the girl inhales sharply and looks down, and he continues, "it's best to keep you hidden for now."

"Rose will be safer here?" Cyan demands, already on the verge of agreeing.

"She will be," Clover confirms, "and I can teach the two of you to defend yourselves as well."

"From your before job," Rose assumes, and Clover doesn't correct her.

"It will be difficult work," he tells them instead, "but I'll do my best to teach you if you do your best to learn. Of course, I'll provide for you both as long as you stay here."

"Like a parent," Doubt interjects sarcastically, obviously unhappy with the possible introduction of two kids to her quiet lifestyle.

"I'm far too old to be a parent," Clover responds. "Perhaps a grandparent instead. In any case, it's up to the two of you whether you want to stay or not."

Rose looks down. "I don't want to put the people in the village in danger again," she murmurs. "Is it really okay for us to stay?"

"Of course it is," he assures her, smiling kindly.

She looks at her brother, and they nod at each other. "We'll stay," they decide, simultaneously.

* * *

 _Present day_

* * *

"A witch?" Hachi questions, but before Rose can explain, loud rock music blares through the room. Shadow jumps and runs for his phone on the table as Rose flops back over on the couch.

"Brother, please change your ringtone," she groans. "I'm begging you."

Shadow huffs. "Shut up, it's cool." He answers the call. "Hello? ...Wait, Gramps?"

Rose pops up. "It's Grandpa?" She dashes to join Shadow, shoving her ear up to the phone. Shadow's brow furrows as he listens.

"You need us to help you?" he asks, as Rose casts him a worried glance. "What happened? ...Oh, that's it? Jeez, you made it sound like you'd been captured or something. Yeah, we'll come get you. Send me your location...Dunno, depends on where you are...Yeah, I'll let you know. Bye." He hangs up the phone and grins at Rose, who smiles back at him.

"What an amazing thief," she laughs, "needing our help for something like that."

Shadow smirks. "I'm gonna go redirect the ship. He'd better not make us late for the next heist," he mutters, leaving the room.

"Who was that?" Hachi questions.

"That was our old master, Phantom Thief Clover," Rose explains, still smiling. "He needs us to pick him up because his plane got damaged in a heist."

"He must be an amazing thief if he taught you and Mister Shadow!" Hachi exclaims.

Rose nods firmly. "He's the best," she declares. "It's been forever since we've seen him! I'm really excited!"

* * *

Jack leans closer to the mirror, tracing a finger over the scar that runs over his eye. He ponders his meetings with the twins and his current position, so lost in thought that he doesn't notice the footsteps behind him.

"As I've said," comes a voice from behind him, jarring him out of his thoughts. He jumps visibly and whirls around.

"If you're that worried about that silly scar," Spade continues, leaning in the doorway, "I have some very nice concealer that would hide it. But instead you insist on that gaudy blue-"

"That's not the problem!" Jack interrupts, waving his hands. "That's not it at all!"

"Then what were you so focused on in the mirror there?" Spade asks, confused.

"I was just..." Jack hesitates. "I was just thinking."

"Did it hurt?" Spade teases. Jack opens his mouth to respond, but before he can Spade interrupts, "Oh, by the way, Joker. Master wanted to see you."

Jack/Joker blinks. "Wait, why?" His eyes widen. "Is he still mad about the thing with the ice sculpture?" he whispers.

"I'm not sure why he wants to see you, but I just got a full lecture," Spade shrugs, "so you should probably hurry."

Joker nods hurriedly. "Yeah, I'm going." He runs past Spade and out the door, waving as he dashes down the hall.

Spade waves back half-heartedly, then enters the room and shuts the door behind him. "I don't know what Joker has to worry about," he mutters to the empty room.

"He's always been better than me, after all."


	5. Chapter 5

A sudden pop rings through the airship, followed by a string of loud and vibrant curses.

"You alright in there, Cyan?" Clover calls from the armchair, as Rose runs to the hallway to investigate. Shadow comes storming past her into the room and shoves a playing card in Clover's face.

Clover takes the card. It's a Jack of Hearts, but there doesn't seem to be anything special about it. Rose comes and leans over Clover's shoulder to see. "Brother, what's this?" she questions.

"The Gemini Crown, apparently," Shadow fumes. Rose glances at the card and back at Shadow, and her eyes widen.

"No way," she gasps. "When did he...?"

"What's going on, you two?" Clover asks again.

"One of the detectives we've been having trouble with, Joker, was at the heist last night," Shadow explains. "He switched the treasure we were after with an Image Gum fake, so we'll have to go back for the real one..."

"Don't," Clover commands, and both the twins stop to stare at him, bewildered. "The whole point of being a phantom thief is challenging people fairly for their treasure. If they can't protect it, then you get to keep it. But if you fail, and they successfully protect the treasure..." He pauses, watching them, then finishes, "then it's poor manners to go back to bother them again."

Shadow sighs. "Then he beat us again," he mutters.

Rose frowns, as if she's just remembered something. "Grandpa, you sent us the recipe to make Image Gum, right?" Clover nods, and she continues, "If you made it, where did Joker and Spade get it from?"

"Oh, I didn't make it," Clover laughs, waving his hands. "My new apprentice brought it to me, and I thought you could use it."

The twins jump back in shock. "I thought you said you wouldn't take another apprentice!" Rose exclaims.

"I didn't think I would," Clover responds. "But she came to me herself and asked, and considering her situation...well, I couldn't just tell her no."

Rose tilts her head. "Her situation?"

"Not my story to tell," Clover says, enigmatically. "But you'll get to meet her when we arrive home, so try to be patient. Besides, I haven't met your apprentices yet either."

"Ah!" Rose snaps her fingers. "Dark Eye took some time off for family matters, but you can meet Hachi!" She whirls towards the doorway and calls, "Hachi! Come meet Grandpa!"

A moment later, Hachi runs down the hall excitedly. He stops when he makes eye contact with the older man in the doorway, eyes fixed on his strange mask.

"Ah, so you're Hachi?" the man asks, smiling kindly. "It's nice to meet you."

Hachi jumps and bows his head respectfully. "It's great to meet you too, sir! Miss Rose says you're amazing."

Clover laughs. "Just Rose, huh?" He mock-sighs. "Shadow doesn't have anything nice to say about his poor master, who's raised him since he was knee-high."

Shadow scoffs. "We stole your whole speech when we took that one in," he gestures to Hachi with a thumb, "catchphrase and everything. That's idolization enough."

Clover shakes his head. "Couldn't be bothered to come up with your own introduction?" he muses. "How did I end up with such lazy apprentices?"

"It's just that yours was too good to be improved upon," Rose insists.

"And here I thought you two slept through it," Clover responds dryly.

As Hachi glances around the room, a thought occurs to him. "What happened to the Gemini Crown?" he interrupts. Shadow grimaces, and is forced to bite back a scream.

* * *

Shadow storms out of the airship, having been shooed away by Clover the moment they landed, who grumbled, "just quickly open the door, please, I have to carry the cake."

"Dragging us all the way back to France, making us stop for a freaking _strawberry_ _cake_ , but noooo, we can't have it, it's for the new apprentice," he mutters to himself, stomping his way up to Clover's house, "didn't even get that freaking _crown_ , how long does he expect us to stay here? We have stuff to do!"

Shadow goes to slam the door open, but it's shut tight. He jiggles the knob a bit, confused. "Oh, yeah, just go open the door for us, Cyan, it's not like it's _locked_ or anything." He huffs, quickly picking the lock. "Wait, when did he start locking the door, anyway? We never used to..."

He opens the door slowly to find a darkened room. As his eyes adjust to the darkness, he glances around the room, searching the walls for the light switch. A slight shiver crawls down his spine as he crosses the threshold, feeling distinctly like the unsuspecting victim of a horror movie.

This feeling only becomes more prominent when he suddenly finds _an actual sword_ pointed at his neck.

The girl wielding the sword fixes him with an icy glare. Despite the childish look suggested by her twin blond pigtails, decorated with green ribbon, she's around the same age as Shadow and seems perfectly capable of murdering him in cold blood at any moment. "Who are you?" she demands.

Just as Shadow begins to fumble for a reply, the lights flicker on. "I'm home," Clover announces cheerfully, entering the room with cake in tow. The girl's eyes flicker to Clover, but the sword stays firmly in place millimeters from Shadow's throat.

"Oh, I see you've already met my old apprentice," Clover continues, blatantly oblivious to the danger in front of him. "Try not to bully him too much, he'll get pouty."

The girl's eyes flick to Shadow for a split second, then she turns suddenly and aims the sword at Clover. Shadow stumbles away, flattening himself against the wall. Clover keeps smiling, completely relaxed.

"Where have you been?" the girl cries out. "You said this would be an overnight trip! It's been almost a week!" Her voice gets louder as she continues, "Did you even think to get in touch with me? I didn't know if you'd been captured, or injured, or..." She trails off, and the sword falls limply to her side.

Clover's face softens, and he turns serious. "I'm very sorry to have worried you, Queen. I hadn't intended to take this long in coming."

Queen(?) nods and hangs her head. "I-I just..." she trails off. "I didn't know if you were going to come back."

"I understand," Clover tells her. "But you shouldn't worry so much. I won't let myself be hurt so easily." He pats her head gently and adds, "Besides, I have you backing me up now, and you're certainly not one to be trifled with."

Queen takes a deep breath and looks up at him. "Well," she muses, calmer, "I'd rather not have to hurt anyone if I can avoid it..."

"You seemed perfectly fine with it earlier!" Shadow interrupts without thinking, back still against the wall.

Clover, without missing a beat, smiles and says to Queen, "See? I told you he gets pouty."

Shadow stutters a protest as Queen giggles, tears for the moment forgotten. Clover winks at him, then suddenly turns towards the kitchen. "I'm going to make stew for dinner," he decides, effectively ending the conversation before Shadow can salvage his pride. "Would you mind cleaning up the spare room a bit? I'm sure Shadow and his sister would like a place to sleep tonight."

Shadow considers offering to help, but he's still slightly terrified of the sword at Queen's side, and as he values his own life, he decides it better not to risk being alone with her. Queen nods and exits the room.

The door slams and Shadow straightens, fixing his hat just as Rose and Hachi appear in the entryway. Hachi immediately offers to help with the cooking, and Clover waves him into the kitchen. Rose plods up to Shadow and asks, "What's that look for?"

"He got to meet the new apprentice," Clover calls from the kitchen, and Rose gasps. She turns back to Shadow, starry-eyed.

"No fair!" Rose pouts, then asks, "Was she cute?"

"Adorable," Shadow responds dryly, and firmly ignores Clover's snicker. "Turns out she's our age, though."

Rose blinks at him, then abruptly turns to Clover. "You said she's a new apprentice," she accuses.

"I only meant newer than the two of you," Clover counters calmly. "She's been living with me for two or three years now. Besides, I didn't become a phantom thief until I was almost twenty."

"You never did tell us what you did before becoming a thief," Shadow wonders aloud.

Clover looks him in the eye and says, "International espionage," then returns to silently cutting ingredients. Shadow and Rose exchange a glance, trying to decide if he's joking and resigning themselves to never being sure.

* * *

"Come get dinner," Clover calls, and a door opens and shuts in the back of the house. The "new" apprentice comes into the room, where she locks eyes with Rose and freezes.

Rose makes a high-pitched noise, jumps out of her seat, and nearly tackles the girl, who looks bewildered. "Hi, I'm Rose!" she announces. "I'm an old apprentice of Grandpa...I mean, of Clover. What's your name?"

"Q-Queen," the girl stammers.

"Nice to meet you! Here, you can sit next to me!" Rose drags Queen to the table. Shadow gingerly steps around the two (although Queen seems to have left her sword in another room) and sits next to Clover, who is watching the commotion amusedly. Doubt comes to join the group, hopping up on the table with barely a sound, and Shadow abruptly tugs Hachi into a chair.

Rose chatters excitedly as they eat. "Your hair is really cute! The pigtails are adorable."

"Oh, um, thank you...?" Queen is hesitant, but continues, "Your hair is cute too. Is it dyed?"

Rose laughs. "Yeah, it's not naturally pink, but the natural color is just as weird."

"Hey, purple isn't weird." Doubt pouts, pretending to be offended.

Rose waves her hands frantically. "I-I didn't mean it looks weird on you! Your fur is fine!"

"You two never did tell me why you dyed it," Clover muses aloud.

"Just in case," Shadow mutters, and Rose nods.

"I'm pretty visible as a phantom thief," she agrees, "but we don't want the people from before to come after me again." Hachi's eyes widen, but the conversation moves on without explanation, so he's resigned to exchanging questioning glances with Queen.

"Then why didn't you take a name, like Cy-" Clover stops and corrects himself, "like Shadow did?"

"She said it was silly," Shadow grumbles forcefully.

"Excuse me for not wanting to sound like a cartoon villain," Rose huffs, and Clover laughs. "Maybe if you'd been able to suggest something that didn't sound like a middle-schooler made it up, I would have changed my mind."

"To be fair," Clover comments cheerfully, "you were middle-schoolers at the time."

Rose narrows her eyes. "You say that like he's changed."

Queen nearly chokes on her drink. She coughs lightly and looks at Clover. "Didn't you used to lie to him about his coffee?" she questions, and Clover visibly winces.

"I still lie to him about his coffee, dear."

Shadow's eyes widen and he turns to face Clover, visibly betrayed. "What do you mean?"

"I always put sugar in your coffee," Clover confesses, "because I thought you were too young to be drinking it black. You liked it better and I never had the heart to tell you the truth. I'm very sorry."

Shadow stares at Clover, speechless. Hachi, ever oblivious, blurts out, "Should I put sugar in your coffee from now on, Mr. Shadow?"

"No!" Shadow cries. "I... I'll just make my own coffee!"

"Why were you drinking black coffee if you like it better with sugar?" Queen asks, confused.

"Because he thought it was cool," Rose deadpans, and Shadow sputters. Rose sighs dramatically, continuing, "He's always been like this- you learn to live with it."

"Hey, I'm not the one who was going on about what a _great_ idea it'd be to match our hair colors to our names," Shadow argues defensively.

"It was a great idea!" Rose huffs. "We're thematically coherent."

"Not if you don't pick a stage name," Shadow insists.

"Brother, we're not from a cartoon!"

* * *

"Strawberry cake is your favorite, right?" Clover opens the box, and Queen leans over to look.

"It looks great, thank you!" She looks up at him with sparkling eyes, and he smiles at her.

"It's the least I could do after disappearing for that long," he assures her.

Shadow rolls his eyes at the sweet scene, the memory of the sword at his throat still fresh in his memory. Queen seems to notice, and bites her lip.

"Sorry about earlier. I thought you were..." she hesitates, then finishes, "someone else."

"What happened earlier?" Rose questions, and Queen looks down.

"I threatened him when he walked in," she admits. "I might have hurt him if Mr. Clover hadn't walked in."

"I thought you were going to kill me for a second there," Shadow huffs, and she flinches, whispering another apology.

The look on her face makes Shadow feel bad, so he waves her off. "It's cool. I did break in and all."

"Do you all want cake or not?" Clover interrupts, and Queen hastily whirls around. Clover laughs and gives her a plate, then doles out two more slices for the twins. By the time they turn towards the sitting room for their dessert and coffee (properly black for once, in Shadow's case), Queen has already started eating.

"Oh, you don't save your strawberries for last," Rose observes as the group wanders into the room.

Queen shakes her head. "Where I grew up, if you try to save it, someone else will take it from you."

"Like this?" Shadow teases, swiping the strawberry off of Rose's cake with a flourish.

She whines, "Brother..."

Queen leans over, stealing Shadow's strawberry and offering it to Rose with a flourish.

"My hero." She accepts it cheerfully and turns to stick her tongue out at Shadow, who responds in kind.

"Speaking of," Rose turns back to Queen, "where did you live before you came to apprentice under Grandpa?"

"Somewhere far away," Queen answers vaguely. "But staying there...wasn't an option for me anymore. Mr. Clover was the only person I could think of to go to."

The twins stare at her, but she avoids their gazes. "Why Gramps?" Shadow finally asks.

"He was the one person I was absolutely never allowed to turn to," she states, as if that explains everything, and takes another bite of cake.

Rose sighs, and Shadow mutters, "You're _just_ like Gramps."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Clover responds innocently.

"Where did you two live before you came to Mr. Clover?" Queen asks, in a not-at-all-obvious attempt to change the subject.

Hachi nods furiously and adds, "You said people were chasing you. Did a lot of people chase you before?"

Rose blinks at him. "Oh, I didn't finish my explanation, did I?" She folds her hand in her lap, letting her plate float in the air beside her. Queen stares at her, shocked, and she winks, then hesitates. "Hmm, I don't know, it seems sort of unfair," she drawls. "Queen won't tell us _anything_ , but I have to spill my entire story."

Queen looks down. "It's just...not something I feel comfortable sharing. You don't have to tell me anything either."

Rose nudges her. "I'm just kidding! You were bound to find it all out anyway since you're one of Grandpa's apprentices. It's easier to explain everything now."

* * *

Queen looks up at the ceiling, evidently processing the story. Hachi, on the other hand, immediately bursts out with, "So did everyone in your village die?"

"Oh, no, they didn't die!" Rose shakes her head. "We just never went back to visit. We were super busy with training, and then there was the worry that if we went back, those soldiers would show up again. But Gramps talked to the elder when we left, to make sure it was okay for us to stay with him." Clover nods in confirmation. Rose turns to Shadow. "Hey, brother, we should visit again!"

Shadow grins and agrees, "Sounds fun. On our way back east, maybe?"

"You all are going to head back to Japan again?" Clover seems surprised. "Wouldn't it be easier to do some heists here?"

Rose places a hand on Hachi's head. "His French isn't very good yet, and we haven't even started on English." Hachi smiles sheepishly and Rose continues, "It's easier for him to work when he understands what's going on."

"Ah," Clover sighs, disappointed. "Here I was hoping you could take Queen on some heists close to home."

Queen gasps. "Oh, no, I'm not...I couldn't do anything like that! I'm not ready."

"Nonsense," Clover replies cheerfully. "You were perfectly ready when you first came to me, and you're more than ready now. If _those two_ can't take you," he gives Rose and Shadow a look, before turning back to Queen, "I'll just take you on some practice heists myself."

"Aww, brother," Rose whines. "There isn't anywhere we can take her?"

Shadow leans back, looking up at the ceiling. "Well, there was that labyrinth. And since it's just some old ruins, we won't have to worry about detectives..."

"Just old traps," Rose finishes, but Hachi seems concerned.

"But...didn't you say there's a monster there?" he questions.

"Probably just some ancient myth," Shadow assures him. "Besides, even if there is one, Queen could just beat it up with that sword of hers."

"Queen is a very talented swordswoman," Clover acknowledges. "I've seen her put holes in steel." Queen turns bright red.

"See?" Shadow seems smug. "No problem."

Rose leans closer to Queen. "That's so cool!" she exclaims, taking Queen's hands in her own. "You'll protect me from the monster, then?"

Queen looks up and away, turning an even brighter red. "I'll do my best...?"

"So do we want to go after the Treasure of Olympus?" Shadow asks, trying to get the conversation back on track.

"It sounds like fun," Rose confirms, and he nods.

"Cool, let me go get all my notes and the map and..." Rose makes a face.

"Isn't it too late tonight to be planning a full heist?" she protests, and Shadow pauses for a moment.

"I'm gonna bring it all from the airship tonight, but I guess we don't have to start planning until tomorrow," he relents, then speeds out of the house.

"Brother gets like this when we're planning heists," Rose apologizes to an intimidated Queen. "Hachi, will you go help him?"

Hachi jumps up and dashes out after Shadow, eager as always. Clover waits until the door shuts before speaking. "Rose, may I speak with you about something?"

Rose glances at him, confused. "Me?"

"No, the other Rose," he quips. She sticks her tongue out at him and he laughs. "It is rather important, so I'd like to talk to you sooner rather than later."

"Do you need me to leave?" Queen asks, concerned.

Clover nods and replies, "That would likely be easiest, yes."

Rose squeezes her hand lightly as she stands. "I'll be in my room, then," Queen says, "if you need me."

Rose watches Queen go, then turns to Clover and asks, "Is something wrong?"

* * *

"Guess who saved the treasure," Joker sings, draping his arms over Spade's shoulders from behind.

"Welcome back," Spade greets him distractedly, not taking his eyes off the board in front of him. "I'm sure Master's proud of you." Joker grins and starts to respond, but is interrupted by a voice from the door.

A young man with long white hair stands in the doorway, arms crossed. "Just because you did what Master told you doesn't mean you get to interrupt King," he snaps. Joker takes a step back from Spade, who turns to face the man.

"I'm about to put him to work," Spade says, smiling insincerely, "but thank you anyway, Roko." The man, Roko, huffs and turns on his heel, stalking away.

Joker stares after him, eyes wide. "Wow. What's his problem?"

Spade sighs, setting the marker down. "You don't remember?" he asks, looking somewhere past the door. "It's been three years today."

"Today? Is it...oh!" Joker's eyes widen and he frowns. "Oh. Since Queen ran away, right?"

Spade nods and murmurs, "Talking about hourglasses the whole way."

* * *

 **a/n: i just remembered i had this account! chapters have been posted regularly on other sites but i'll start posting here too!**


	6. Chapter 6

"Miss Rose," Hachi begins, sitting on the steps of a rather intimidating temple, "where is Mr. Shadow?"

Rose sighs, casting another fruitless glance around the deserted landscape. "I don't know," she mutters. "He's normally better about time than this. He was so excited he just left us at home, and now he's late!"

The roar of a motorcycle echoes in the distance, and Rose stands, brushing off the back of her dress. However, the motorcycle that pulls to a stop in front of the temple does not belong to Shadow.

"Oh, it's you two," Spade comments nonchalantly, pulling off his helmet and placing it on the seat.

Rose takes a step back and puts a protective arm in front of Hachi, but Spade walks right past her up the steps. "Wait, you're not after us?" she asks, confused.

Spade comes to a stop at the entrance to the temple and turns on his heel to face them. "You're not that important," he replies pointedly, and Rose crosses her arms.

"What are you doing all the way out here, then?" she questions. "There's nothing but an old temple and _maybe_ some mythical treasure."

"I'd say the treasure's probably here if you bothered to show up, Miss Rose." He winks at her, then turns his back. "I have something else to do here, but if you're not careful I'll just take that treasure with me too." And with that, he disappears into the darkness of the temple.

Rose hesitates, then turns to Hachi. "We can't just let him go in there and take it," she reasons. "When brother gets here, he will just follow us in." She turns on her heel and chases Spade into the temple, Hachi following behind her.

* * *

Queen flicks open a compact mirror emblazoned with a Q, pulling at her bangs. "Might be time to cut this," she muses.

Shadow huffs. "More importantly, where are Rose and Hachi? Are you sure they left before you?"

Queen nods. "Mr. Clover was the only one home when I left," she tells him. "I don't know where the other two are."

"That's weird," Shadow mutters. "I've been waiting out here forever." Queen frowns and flicks the compact shut, but the roar of a car interrupts her.

A blue top-down convertible skids to a stop in front of the temple. Joker jumps jubilantly over the door instead of opening it, but doesn't notice Shadow and Queen standing there. He seems to be absorbed in an argument with someone through a small earpiece.

"Yes, I'm here! I don't see you! The only people here are Shadow and..." He locks eyes with Queen and trails off, taking his hand off the earpiece.

Queen tenses and draws her sword, fixing Joker with an icy glare, and Shadow thinks, _Ah, there's the girl who attacked me in Gramps' house._

"Don't come near," she warns, and Joker takes an obedient step back, eyes wide.

"Queen?" Joker asks, eyes fixed on her sword.

She smiles. "It's been a long time, Joker."

Joker draws a playing card, tense. Shadow looks between them, seeking an explanation as to _what exactly is going on._ He receives none.

Queen tilts her head. "You're really planning to fight me?" she asks, sounding more self-assured than Shadow has ever heard her. "We both know how that'll end."

"That's...you... _we thought you were dead_ ," Joker hisses.

"You were wrong," she replies simply. "In case you've already forgotten, you were wrong about quite a few things."

Joker inhales sharply, then looks between her and Shadow and grins. "Oh, I see what happened here."

 _Good_ , Shadow thinks, _because I sure don't._

"So, what," Joker continues, twirling the card between his fingers, "you ran off and joined up with some dirty thieves because you were mad at Master?" He flicks his wrist, and the card whizzes past her ear. She doesn't flinch.

Shadow aims his umbrella at Joker. "I don't know why you're even _here_ ," he begins, offended, "but if you're just going to insult us and throw cards, you need to back off before I get seriously mad."

Joker scoffs. "This doesn't involve you. Stay out of it."

Shadow begins to respond, but Queen shakes her head. "This is something I should have settled a while ago," she tells him, eyes fixed on Joker. "Go on without me."

"Like hell I will," Shadow huffs. "You're a part of the family now, you know."

She glances at him, surprised.

"Well," Joker sighs, "if you're willing to throw away your morals just for people who'll compliment you, you're a lot weaker than the Queen I knew." He starts up the steps towards the temple, blithely ignoring Queen's earlier warning. "I've got things to do here today. I don't have time to be hanging around with liars and thieves."

As he goes to pass Queen, she whirls suddenly and strikes at him, but he holds her sword back with the edge of a card. Grinning, he warns her, "You can't treat me the same way you did when we were kids."

"Killing you would just prove those deluded ideas of yours anyway, right?" she replies, and backs away.

"Who's really delusional here, Queen?" Joker asks, but escapes into the temple before she can answer.

The moment he's out of sight, Queen relaxes, sighing. Shadow puts a hand on her shoulder and she jumps.

Shadow smiles at her and, with all the calmness he can muster, (which is, admittedly, not much), asks, "What just happened?"

"Joker's...always been frustrating," she responds in lieu of an answer. "He's been stubborn like that for as long as I can remember. The only person he listens to is Master, so I guess it's no wonder that he..." she pauses, then shakes her head. "Should we go in? Maybe Rose and Hachi are already inside."

"I don't want that guy getting ahead of me anyway," Shadow agrees. He turns and stalks inside, Queen at his heels.

* * *

"So, what, did you two grow up together or something?" Shadow asks as they navigate an increasingly dark tunnel.

Queen nods. "The two of us, and one other."

"Spade?" Shadow guesses, and Queen nods again.

"Although he came along later. That was Joker's first mission, actually."

Shadow glances at her, barely able to see her outline in the dark. "Mission? How old was he?" he asks incredulously.

"We were all still very young," she murmurs. "Joker ran many, many errands like that for Master until one of them nearly killed him."

Shadow nearly trips, but recovers and turns to stare incredulously at Queen. "Who is this 'Master', anyway, sending little kids on missions like that?"

She hesitates, and looks towards the other end of the tunnel. "Did you hear that?" she whispers.

Shadow blinks. "Avoiding the question," he accuses, but suddenly he hears a faint noise echo against the walls of the tunnel.

Queen glances at him worriedly. "It sounds like screams."

Shadow shudders. "It's probably just the wind," he assures her. "Let's hurry up."

She nods and they hurry into the open atrium at the other end of the tunnel. Light filters through the ceiling here, so they're finally able to see. Something brushes Shadow's shoulder and he yelps, jumping away.

She tenses momentarily, glancing from the offending statue to Shadow. "It's...made of stone. It won't hurt you," she assures him hesitantly. "Why are you hiding behind me, anyway?"

Shadow clears his throat, stepping away from Queen. "I wasn't hiding behind you, I was just...evading the threat. Anyway, didn't you say you'd protect us?"

"I said I'd protect Rose, because Rose is cute," she contradicts bluntly. "Can't you fight for yourself?"

Shadow sighs. "Never mind. Anyway, don't these statues seem over-realistic?"

Queen studies the stone army. "Normally, I'd say you're overreacting, but these are really lifelike."

"See? So it makes sense that it scared me." He glances around. "I thought I heard Rose's voice, but..."

"Ah, over there," Queen points, and Shadow notices Rose's silhouette from across the line of statues. He and Queen navigate their way through the maze, and Shadow reaches out for Rose.

"I didn't see you guys going in," he tells her, "or..." His hand meets cold stone and he immediately jumps away. "A statue?"

"There's one of Hachi too," Queen calls worriedly. "Why are there...?"

"This place was the legend for the myth of Medusa," Shadow mutters, "but it's not like that's real."

A nearly silent sob causes them both to jump. They whirl around to find a small child, crying behind a pillar.

"Th-that's a little girl," Shadow observes, definitively _not_ hiding behind Queen again. "How'd she end up all the way out here?"

Queen looks back at him. "Do you think she was the one making all that noise earlier?"

Shadow glances from her to the girl. "Can't hurt to ask," he decides.

Queen runs to check on her, and Shadow does the same, keeping a firm grip on his umbrella. "What's wrong?" Queen asks softly, approaching her hesitantly. "Why are you here?"

The girl sniffles, avoiding eye contact with the pair. "Sorry, I...do you have a mirror with you?"

"Why do you need a mirror?" Shadow questions, bewildered.

"It's just for a moment," the girl murmurs. "It's fine if you don't have one…"

Queen reaches into her pocket. "It's not very big, but I do have a compact..."

"Don't give it to her!" a familiar voice cries out, but it's too late.

The girl snatches it from Queen's hand and giggles, "Thank you." She begins to glow, and transforms into a giant monster, towering over Shadow and Queen with a malicious grin.

"Medusa," Shadow whispers, backing away.

"You fools were lured here by the treasure," she laughs. "Now you can become part of my labyrinth forever!" Her eyes begin to glow. Shadow hides from the glare behind his cape until it fades.

When he looks back, Queen has already turned to stone. Shadow's breath catches in his throat as the creature continues to laugh maniacally. "You two are next!" she warns. Shadow glances at the other person.

Joker stands completely relaxed, hands in his pockets. "You can try," he says, and pulls his right hand out, showing a full hand of cards. The cards begin to shine brightly and Medusa shrieks, fleeing deeper into the temple.

"Ah, she dropped the compact," Joker observes, picking it up.

"This is all real," Shadow realizes. "Rose, Hachi, Queen, they're all..."

"She got Spade too," Joker adds quietly. "So all we need to do is get rid of her, lift the curse, and get them all back." He waves the compact in the air, and Shadow's breath hitches in his throat.

"That's Queen's! You don't have any right to touch it!"

"I know it's Queen's," Joker responds. "Spade gave it to her. It was a birthday present." He smiles tightly. "You don't know anything about Queen." He turns to walk away. "I'm going on ahead. When you're done freaking out and want to actually help, feel free to follow."

Shadow blinks, then chases after him.

* * *

"Wait, Joker, let me see that compact!" Shadow calls, but Joker doesn't stop.

"As if I'd trust you with something this important!"

"No, listen," Shadow insists, grabbing Joker's arm. He whirls around and drops the compact, and Shadow hurriedly picks it up. "I've got an-"

There's a roar from behind them, and they exchange glances and take off running across the stone bridge. Shadow observes that lava is running below in place of water, and firmly shuts it out of his mind. _Can't afford to panic now._

"Foolish humans! Don't get too cocky!" Medusa cries, and slams the bridge with her tail, forming a hole straight down the middle and knocking the pair off into the lava. Shadow activates his umbrella, allowing the hot air from the lava to carry him up, and watches Joker blow a bubblegum bubble which resolves itself into a large balloon. They reach the edge of the bridge at the same time, but in Shadow's haste to get away from the heat, he crashes into Joker and drops the compact into the lava. Joker spares him an incredulous look before dragging him past the bridge, into a hallway.

An imposing set of double doors greets them. They quickly notice the stone columns on each side. Joker shoves Shadow towards one column and runs for the other. Embedded in the top of each column is a button which nearly blends in with the stone. Shadow presses the button on his column, but the doors don't budge. From the looks of it, Joker isn't faring much better.

Suddenly, Joker's eyes widen, and he counts, "One, two, three!" Shadow hurriedly slams the button at the end of the countdown, matching Joker, and the doors slide open. They both dash in, and the doors slide shut on Medusa's taunting cries.

Shadow flattens his back against the door, trying and failing to remember how to breathe. Joker glances at him sideways and asks, "You alright? If you're that bad with stress management, isn't thievery kinda unhealthy?"

"Not the stress," Shadow chokes out. "The heat."

"Oh," Joker says, then a moment later, " _Oh._ Uh, can I help at all?"

Shadow shakes his head, and Joker willingly backs off, wandering further into the room. It's another few moments before Shadow joins him, and his eyes widen at the sight before him.

"The _Treasure of Olympus_ ," he whispers, gazing at the pile of treasure before him.

"I guess," Joker hums. "I was trying to find a mirror, but there aren't any here. She's not that stupid."

Shadow curses. "If I hadn't dropped that compact..."

"Yeah, that was pretty stupid of you," Joker laughs, and Shadow flinches. "But it's done, so now we need to find another way to beat her."

"Maybe I can make one out of Image Gum," Shadow muses. He's never tried to use the invention Clover sent him outside of the heist where he met Hachi, so he's not quite sure of its capabilities.

Joker is, however. "It won't work," he contradicts immediately. "Image Gum can only make copies of things you've seen. You'll get a snapshot of a mirror, but not a real one." He pauses. "How did you get ahold...Queen." He hisses the last word, face changing immediately.

"We need to figure out another plan then," Shadow interrupts, trying to distract him. "How are we going to get a mirror?"

Joker looks up at the ceiling for inspiration. "We could fake one."

* * *

Medusa slithers back onto the bridge. "Those humans can't hide forever," she thinks aloud. "They'll have to come out eventually."

Suddenly, she catches sight of two moving figures on the other side of the gap in the bridge. Or, to be precise, one moving figure and its reflection in a mirror.

Joker is standing there, looking at her through the mirror, holding a playing card. "Took you long enough," he calls, and throws the card. It glances off her chest, snapping the pendant around her neck. The red jewel falls to the ground, rolling behind her, but she pays it no mind, incensed.

"How did you get a mirror in here?" she demands. "That should be impossible!"

"Yeah, that guy Shadow can't really handle it when things get heated," Joker muses, "but he's pretty great when it comes to making miracles happen. So? What are you going to do?"

"I'll just fight you from a distance, then!" Pulling from her magic, she materializes a bow and a set of flaming arrows, firing from across the gap. Joker tosses more cards, stopping the arrows, and they fall to pieces nearby.

"What's next?" he calls, grinning, and she growls.

"You are overconfident, human." She glares at him, observing the shadows cast by the arrows' flames.

 _It's not a reflection at all._

"That's not a real mirror at all, is it?" she cries, and Joker and his reflection flinch.

The "reflection" expands and pops, revealing Shadow.

"Should have put out those flames," Joker mutters. "I didn't even consider..."

Medusa laughs. "You really thought I'd fall for such a silly trick?" She begins to advance on them, and they both run behind the "mirror", which pops into nothingness a moment later. "I've never met humans who gave me so much trouble! You'll be an excellent addition to my collection!"

They begin to back up, but they have nowhere to run and they know it. Joker looks up at her, then hurriedly looks away, avoiding eye contact.

"Foolish human, that won't be enough to save you," she mocks. He flinches, looking around the room for something to save him.

She nears the gap, and the pair on the other side exchange glances. "Now," she screeches, "become statues!"

Her scream suddenly chokes and dies, echoing across the cavern as her head separates from her body. It flies across the gap, landing with a thud and rolling to a stop at Joker's feet. He skitters backwards, crying, "Gross!"

The body itself falls into the gap, revealing the people standing on the other side. Queen sheathes her sword, smiling. "You two got into a bit of a pinch, huh?"

Rose curtsies next to her, laughing, "Thank you very much, dear Perseus."

Hachi looks up at Rose, confused. "Perseus?"

"He's the hero in the Medusa myth," Spade explains, appearing suddenly on Queen's other side. He turns to Joker. "How did you get us free?"

Joker shrugs. "I dunno, maybe that pendant I cut off had something to do with it."

Spade tilts his head, but Queen interrupts. "Hey, did either of you get that compact back?"

"Shadow dropped it in the lava," Joker reports, pointing at Shadow, who flinches.

"You did _what_?" Queen asks. "Didn't you need that?"

"It was an accident," Shadow mutters.

Spade shakes his head. "It's fine. Queen, I still have the designs on my computer, so once you come home I'll make a new one."

Queen glances at him, confused. "Wait, I'm not-"

She is cut off by a tremor under her feet. The cavern around the group begins to collapse as they watch with wide eyes.

"W-What's going on?" Hachi cries.

"Medusa's a sore loser and she's taking the treasure with her," Shadow explains hurriedly. "Come on, we need to go."

He and Joker hop the gap, and the group runs out into the atrium, frantically searching for an exit amid the rubble.

Shadow heads for the exit that he and Queen used to enter the temple, but a pile of rubble falls in his path and he stumbles backwards. Rose drags him off in another direction, towards the entrance she had used, but another rock falls in the way. They step backwards, but a chunk of ceiling nearly falls on top of them, and Rose has to pull Hachi out of the way. Shadow flicks on his umbrella and blasts the blockage in front of the entryway, and the group runs out.

"Too many doors," Rose cries, bursting out of the temple with a firm grip on Hachi's hand. She whirls around, searching for her brother. "Are you guys alright?"

"We're fine," Queen answers. Shadow nods from beside her.

"Too bad about the treasure though," he sighs, glancing back at the ruins. "Feels like a waste of effort."

Queen blinks, suddenly looking around. "Wait, where did Joker and Spade go?"

"You don't think they got trapped in there?" Rose gasps.

"We're not that clumsy," Spade calls from the bottom of the stairs. He's leaning against his motorcycle, rolling the jewel from Medusa's pendant around in his hand. Joker sits precariously on the seat, having what looks to be a heated discussion with someone over the phone. Spade shakes his head, tucks the jewel away, and hops up the steps again, leaving Joker to the phone.

"Is he talking to Master?" Queen asks, and Spade nods, sighing.

"Ever since you ran away, he's been extremely protective." He gives Queen a pointed look.

"And by protective, you mean controlling," she quips, and he glares.

He presses his gun to her forehead, and both Rose and Shadow jump to her aid, but she waves them off, holding eye contact with Spade. He hisses, "I'm not going to stand here and listen to you keep slandering the person who raised us over and over. Especially not you, who abandoned her family at the drop of a hat to run off and become a thief."

"Aren't we both a bit old for you to threaten me with a fake gun?" she drones. "What does this one shoot, rose petals?"

"Just because it doesn't fire bullets doesn't make it any less dangerous," he warns, but moves it away from her, holding it loosely at his side. "Do you understand what you're doing here, Queen? If you truly decide not to come home, we'll treat you as a thief, personal past or otherwise."

"I am home," she counters, "and whenever you two decide to take your fingers out of your ears and actually pay attention to what Master has done, you're welcome to join me. Mr. Clover is nice, I'm sure he wouldn't mind helping you two."

"I'd rather die, but I appreciate the offer," he responds, offering her a sharp smile. "I think we'll be due home soon, but I'll give your regards to Roko." Queen flinches, and he continues, "He blamed himself a great deal for your death, you know. I wonder if it'll make him feel any better to know that he simply raised a traitor instead."

She glares, gripping her sword. "Leave him out of this."

" _You_ can't use a sword in close range, you know that," Spade laughs, turning around to walk down the stairs. "Be seeing you!"

Queen watches him go, tense. Rose leans over to her as he and Joker drive away and offers, "I'll beat him up for you." Queen blinks at her, then starts to laugh, and Rose grins. "No, seriously! Brother will help, right?"

"I've been waiting to punch that smirk off his face for a while now," Shadow agrees, "but you told me not to get involved."

Queen shakes her head, still smiling. "I can do that myself, but thank you."

"Why are they so angry at you, Miss Queen?" Hachi questions.

"Seems like they have a grudge against Gramps," Shadow adds.

"Master has a grudge against Mr. Clover, yes," Queen admits, and Rose snaps her fingers.

"Oh! So when you said he was the one person you couldn't turn to..."

"That's why, yeah," Queen sighs, then adds hopefully, "But I think that's enough about my life!"

Rose pouts. "Fine. Brother, tell us what happened while we were turned to stone." Shadow grins and flicks his hat up, and she adds, "the _real_ story."

He coughs. "I-It was going to be the real story," he insists, but Rose just hums disbelievingly.

"Here, let's go get your motorcycle while you explain everything," she commands, dragging Shadow and Hachi towards her car.

Queen watches them go for a moment, lost in thought. Rose turns around, noticing she isn't with them, and cuts her brother off mid-story to call out to her. Queen blinks and shakes her head, pushing the troublesome thoughts away, and runs to join her new friends.

* * *

 **A/N: I need to clear a few things up here! I have already posted this story on Wattpad, as a couple of you pointed out. Also, Roko is _not_ a human! This is a reversal AU, after all! He switched with canon Doubt, so he inherited her ability to shift between a human and an animal form. This will become clearer in later chapters!**

 **I appreciate all of your comments, thank you for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7

"Ah," Hachi mutters, staring up the sheer cliff face in front of him, "Miss Rose was right. Mister Shadow, you really do pick the hardest possible path on treasure hunts." There was no way he would be able to scale these heights, despite Shadow's claims that _it's totally possible if you just give it a try_.

Shadow pouts. "It's more fun this way!"

"What about this is fun?!" Hachi demands, incredulous.

"If you were going to complain," Shadow responds in lieu of an answer, "you should have just gone with the girls."

"I'm sorry!" Shadow almost grins in victory at Hachi's admission of defeat, until Hachi continues, "I'll listen properly to Miss Rose's warnings next time, but can we find another way up today?"

Shadow wilts slightly. "Fine. But for the record, this is going to be way more fun than that egg heist Rose and Queen are doing." With that, he huffs and stalks off to find the proper path up the cliff. Hachi breathes a sigh of relief and hurries to follow.

* * *

Hachi holds Shadow's cape as they walk. The path runs right along the cliff edge, and even glancing over the edge makes him dizzy. He's terrified of falling, but it's still better than trying to climb the face directly.

"Mister Shadow, what sort of treasure is there on this island?" he asks, trying to distract himself.

Shadow looks up at the sky, reciting what he remembers of the legend. "It's an ancient gem called the _Scarlet Heart_ that once belonged to the king of the island." He glances back down at Hachi. "He buried it before he died, and nobody's ever found it. That's-"

His voice is cut off as a giant helicopter flies right over both of their heads. The wind picks Shadow's hat up and carries it away, and he chases after it as the helicopter disappears out of sight.

"Mister Shadow, what was that?" Hachi gasps.

Shadow snorts. "A shortcut for the cliff problem, if you don't mind announcing your presence to everyone in a five-kilometer radius." He puts his hat back on, staring in the direction the helicopter had gone. "Either they're friends with whatever people are living here, or they're confident that they can destroy anything in their path."

"Neither of those options sound good for us," Hachi says worriedly.

"Neither of them are," Shadow admits, then shrugs. "But we've dealt with worse. Besides, this is supposed to be fun! So don't worry about it too much, okay?"

Hachi nods, still worried, but the pair resume their hike.

* * *

A gunshot echoes from the clearing ahead, and Shadow shoves Hachi face-first into the bushes without thinking. Hachi makes a muffled sound of protest as Shadow ducks below the plants himself, peeking up just enough to inspect the scene in front of him.

There's a small village ahead, filled with soldiers in uniforms. Shadow grimaces as a foreboding sense of déjà vu washes over him. He knows he's seen these soldiers before, but...where? Before he can remember, however, Hachi whispers, "There's a village way up on a mountain like this?"

Shadow nods. "Something's wrong, though. Did you hear that gunshot from earlier?" Hachi nods, and he continues, "I think those soldiers came from that helicopter we saw. They're probably attacking the village, looking for something." His eyes narrow. "Willing to burn the entire place to the ground over some treasure? Come on, Hachi, let's get closer." He stands and slips off into the foliage, and Hachi hesitantly follows.

They come closer to the village center, hiding in the bushes again just as a few of the soldiers begin to move, roughly shoving an old man towards the helicopter. A child cries out, "Leave him alone!" and throws a rock at one of the men. The man whirls around, furious. He advances menacingly on the child, cowering among her friends, and roughly snatches her up, cursing. A few of the unoccupied soldiers join in, surrounding the children. Shadow shifts to stand, and Hachi looks up to see rage burning in the thief's face. However, at that moment, another figure exits the helicopter, and Hachi hurriedly pulls Shadow back down to prevent being caught.

The soldiers stand at attention as the man approaches them, but are nonetheless berated for being distracted. "You're wasting time, just catching brats! You should be looking for the Scarlet Heart!" the man barks, and the children are released, scattering immediately to join their huddled families in the center of the village. Shadow relaxes a fraction, but he's still clearly shaking with anger, and Hachi keeps a firm grip on his sleeve.

"But, General Manbou," one of the men protests, "no one in the village knows the location of the treasure!" The general's eyes widen, and he seems about to snap, but is interrupted.

"General Manbou!" a soldier shouts, running up to him. "We found this in the elder's house!"

Manbou turns around and impatiently snatches the stone tablet from the soldier's hands, then immediately gives it back, demanding that one of his men read the ancient text. A soldier nearby, standing at attention while presumably waiting for this specific task, rushes over and begins to translate.

"Dye the ground red and offer the tablet where the great evil god points. He who holds the evil god's heart shall be the hero of legend."

"A hint to where the treasure is located?" the general muses, suddenly calm, then whirls angrily on the villagers. "So you've been keeping this from us the whole time?" he roars. "I'll show you what happens to those who disobey me!" His soldiers train their guns on the villagers, and Shadow launches himself forward, tearing himself free from Hachi's grip.

Someone beats him to the general, kicking him down from above and landing with a foot firmly planted in his face. The soldiers whirl and aim at the attacker, Shadow freezes where he stands, and the village falls deathly silent.

Joker turns to face the soldiers, digging his foot further into Manbou's face. "Try it," he challenges, face devoid of emotion, and after a moment of pause, the soldiers hesitantly lower their guns.

"Joker?" Manbou cries, slightly muffled by the dirt. "What in the hell are you doing?"

"Stopping you from attacking innocents," he answers simply. "You should know better than that, unless you're really that stupid."

The general struggles to stand, and Joker releases him. "Who do you think you are?" Manbou demands, brushing himself off indignantly. "Just because you're _that man's_ prodigy child or something, you think you can just attack me? Making up your own rules because of a mission you failed-"

"On second thought," Joker muses, taking a step towards the general, "your voice is _really_ annoying. Shut up for a while." Before Manbou can move, Joker kicks him again, knocking him flat onto the ground.

He bends down and picks up the stone tablet Manbou had been holding. "That should knock the wind out of him, at least." He brushes past the soldiers, most of whom are standing hesitantly, unsure of whether to aim at him. He turns and flashes a smile at them. "When the general wakes up, tell him I went on ahead," he chirps. "Now come on, Shadow, we're burning daylight!"

Shadow, still standing shocked and half-ready to attack, blinks. "Wait, what?"

Joker glances over his shoulder, strolling nonchalantly into the forest as if he hadn't just singlehandedly stopped a small military invasion, and calls, "You're after the Scarlet Heart, right?" He waves the tablet in the air. "You'll need this!"

"I mean, yeah, but... that's... wait a minute!" Shadow stutters, then turns and calls, "Let's go, Hachi!" Hachi jumps out of the bushes and the pair race to catch up with Joker.

* * *

Joker leads the silent trek down the forest path. He's in a rather good mood, especially considering the small spat with General Manbou earlier, and he's excited for the treasure hunt ahead even though he has absolutely no idea where he's going. He'd seen a big statue near the cliff edge when they were flying up, but as to whether he was going in the right direction...

"Can you stop staring at me?" he huffs, whirling to face Shadow. "It's giving me shivers."

Shadow glares at him. "I end up asking this a lot when you're around, but _what in the hell just happened_?"

Joker waves a hand dismissively. "Oh, General Manbou and I work for the same person. He's one of those irritating people that thinks he can look down on me because I'm younger than him, even though I'm in a higher position, so I have to cut him down to size every once in a while."

"Which involves commanding his soldiers at will," Shadow deadpans in complete disbelief, and Joker nods. "And not one of them attacked you. How do you get away with that?"

Joker shakes his head. "Oh, I get away with plenty of things," he responds dismissively. "It's all about the way you phrase it to Master. But the soldiers didn't attack me because..." He cuts himself off, looking suspiciously guilty. "Well, it's a bunch of complicated stuff I don't feel like explaining." Then, to subtly change the subject, he tacks on, "Hey, what do you think of the riddle?"

Shadow hesitates, "Why should I tell you? It's not like we're working together."

"Wait, we're not?" Joker seems genuinely surprised. "Seems like it'd help both of us, since we've got a mutual enemy and all. Wouldn't it be better to work together for now?"

"Oh, so you're willing to work with one of the phantom thieves you hate so much?" Shadow mocks, and Joker's eyes narrow. "Why would you even want this treasure?"

"For now," he repeats. "It's easier, since I don't feel like fighting both you and Manbou off at the same time, and if you have any sense at all you'll feel the same way. I wanted to return the treasure to the village, unless you can stop me. I'll promise not to turn on you until we've found it, so let's at least be civil for now."

The two hold eye contact for a moment, until Shadow huffs and mutters, "Fine."

Joker grins victoriously. "So, anyway, what's with the whole 'dye the ground red' thing? Feels like it's more than just dramatic effect, but it isn't actually asking for sacrifices, right?" He frowns down at the tablet. "That's too much for a treasure."

Shadow shakes his head. "Yeah, a jewel isn't worth someone else's life," he agrees. "It's probably a hint, but I think 'sacrifices' would be too obvious, given how unclear the rest of the riddle is. What do you think of the 'evil god' part?"

"I saw a statue on the way in," Joker offers. "It's pretty big, and I heard a few of the locals mention it when they were being interrogated."

Shadow nods. "I saw mentions of that while I was researching. Is that where you were heading?"

Joker shrugs. "Maybe."

"What do you mean, maybe?" Shadow narrows his eyes. "You do know where you're going, right?"

"Not really," Joker responds, as Shadow stares at him incredulously. "I just took a well-traveled path and figured I'd stumble upon it eventually. It's way taller than the trees, anyway, so if I have to I can just climb up there and look for it."

There's a moment of pause, before Shadow mutters, "Hachi, remind me not to follow _him_ anywhere ever again."

"Hey!"

* * *

Shadow is leading now, having confirmed the proper direction, and Joker and Hachi trail behind him. The stormy silence makes it clear that Shadow is too irritated for polite conversation, so Joker turns to Hachi and asks, "So where's Rose? I thought she and Shadow normally did heists together."

Hachi nods. "They do, but this time Miss Rose and Miss Queen went to steal a different treasure." A shadow crosses Joker's face at the mention of Queen's name, but Hachi continues nonetheless. "Miss Rose says that Mister Shadow makes treasure hunts more difficult than they need to be, so she didn't want to come." Shadow turns to defend himself, but Hachi's next words silence him. "Mister Joker, what happened between you and Miss Queen?"

Joker huffs. "Queen's a liar and a traitor and she's more concerned with her own comfort than the people she's leaving behind. It's probably for the best that we're rid of her, to be honest."

"Queen's a good person," Shadow argues. "And that wasn't what he asked, anyway."

"I keep telling you, you don't know anything about Queen," Joker responds shortly. "If you're that desperate to know, she's clumsier than me and Spade and got in trouble with Master a lot, so she got mad, made up a bunch of lies about him, and ran away from home." He shakes his head. "We all grew up together, and she just disappeared and let us think she was dead. How someone could just abandon their family like that... I really don't get it at all."

"Oh, so you see her as _family_?" Shadow mutters. "Family doesn't threaten family with death."

Joker stops, and Shadow turns to face him. "Look," Joker says quietly, glaring. " _Queen_ left _us_. If you're going to blame anyone for the way we treat each other, blame her."

Shadow shakes his head. "The way you and Spade talked to her at the temple... doesn't seem like the way family should talk to each other, betrayal or otherwise." He turns away. "There's a clearing up ahead, I'm pretty sure the statue's there. Let's just move on." Joker crosses his arms, but follows without further argument.

Hachi runs up to walk next to Shadow. _Didn't mean to start all that_ , he thinks to himself regretfully.

* * *

"Oh, there it is! Come on, Hachi!" Shadow takes off in a full sprint the moment he steps out of the forest, with Hachi struggling to keep up. He stops at a set of steep stairs built into a large stone structure, and Hachi comes to a halt beside him.

"So this is the great evil god?" Joker muses, looking up at the enormous statue in front of them.

Hachi has to lean almost all the way back to see its face, but he manages to not fall over. "Its face is much kinder than I was expecting," he points out, and Shadow glances at him.

Joker hops up the stairs to the base of the statue, and the others rush to follow him. They find him peering over a large block, with an indent shaped like the tablet he's holding in his hands. "So I just put it in here?" he wonders. "Seems suspiciously easy."

"Well, one of the statue's hands is pointing there," Shadow responds. "The other one is pointing at the sky, but it's not like we can put it there. I still wonder about the 'dye the ground red' line though..."

A bullet whizzes past Shadow's ear. Shadow grabs Hachi by his hood and drags him behind the block. Joker joins them immediately, eyes wide. The gunfire continues for only a moment, until a triumphant call of "Cease fire! We need to capture those three!"

The look on Joker's face upon hearing Manbou's voice would be entertaining in any other situation- Shadow's not sure he's ever seen anyone look quite so _inconvenienced_ while being held at gunpoint. "Run as soon as you can," he whispers to Shadow, pushing the tablet into his hands. "I'll make a distraction."

He rises, leaning on the block to watch Manbou. "Were you following us the whole way here?" he asks, feigning shock.

"Of course!" Manbou responds, still triumphant. "All the way down that treacherous path..." Shadow rolls his eyes as he and Hachi sneak out from behind the block and away from the statue.

Joker hums. "I remember it being a pretty simple walk," he ponders, confused. "Are you sure you followed us the whole way?"

Manbou draws himself up to his full (short) height, offended. "Of course I did! I-" He notices Shadow and Hachi out in the open, and immediately cuts himself off. "Get those two!" he shrieks, and the gunfire resumes, backing them up to a cliff. Joker runs to join them, facing Manbou.

The general grins maliciously. "I see you've chosen to ally yourself with a thief," he calls, and Joker's eyes narrow. "Now, hand over the tablet or I'll kill you with them!"

Shadow glances behind him, looking for a way out, and notices something he hadn't realized before. His eyes widen and he points his umbrella at the enemy. "Stay back!" he yells. Joker glances at him...

...and presses a card to his throat. Shadow freezes and Joker smiles sharply. "These cards can hold their own against Queen's sword, so I wouldn't take them lightly. Now, give me the tablet."

Hachi gasps. "You're betraying us?" he cries.

"There's no betrayal here," Joker responds simply. "I said I'd work with you two until we found the treasure. We already decided to put the tablet into place up there, so there's no point in cooperating further."

Shadow opens his mouth to contradict him, but the card digs in a little deeper as Joker gives him a warning glance. "The tablet," he repeats, and Shadow begrudgingly hands it over. Joker tosses it to Manbou, who grins widely.

"I'm glad you've come to your senses." He turns and races back up the steps, soldiers following just as excitedly. "You're welcome to come up here if you want to watch," he calls down, but Joker shakes his head.

"I'd better stay down here and make sure the thieves don't try anything," he answers, and Shadow shoots him a glare. Joker responds with a sugar-sweet smile and looks back up at the statue as Manbou sets the tablet in the indent.

The statue starts to move, loud grinding noises echoing across the island as the stone rebels against moving for the first time in centuries. The face on the statue begins to flip from the serene expression it had been wearing to a much angrier one, and Manbou barely has time to react before the hand, which had been pointing at the sky, suddenly drops and crushes down on top of him and his men.

Silence washes across the area for a mere moment until Joker bursts out into hysterical laughter. Shadow and Hachi stare at him, concerned and extremely confused. "He...he fell for it!" Joker gasps. "That was perfect! Hold on, I'm gonna go tease him."

Joker takes off towards the statue, and Shadow heaves a beleaguered sigh before turning back over the side of the cliff. "I definitely don't want to work with him again."

Hachi looks up at him and asks, "Did you know it was a trick?"

Shadow nods. "Not at first," he admits, "but when he said we'd agreed to put the tablet there, I figured it out. By the way, I think I figured out what the riddle means."

Hachi gasps. "What is it? What is it?"

Shadow pauses. "Actually, we should probably go get Joker first. I'm afraid of what he'll do when I can't see him."

They run up the steps just in time to hear Manbou yell, "Silver Heart will hear about this!"

Joker is sitting cross-legged in front of the statue, just out of Manbou's reach. "Sure, go ahead and tell Master!" he chirps. "But when you do, make sure to mention that you tried to kill civilians, made enemies that you couldn't handle, and ended up getting crushed because of your own overconfidence!" He turns his head to see Shadow waiting at the top of the steps, and stands. "Hey, Shadow!" He's grinning now, full of energy. "Guess we're back to square one on the treasure hunt, huh?"

Shadow steps forward and plucks the tablet out of the block, and the mechanisms holding Manbou down slowly begin to release. "Actually, I've figured most of it out."

Joker's eyes widen, without even sparing a glance at the retreating soldiers. "Wait, what? Tell me!"

* * *

"So, the shadow of the statue is the real evil god, and we're just going where it points?" Hachi questions. "Why did we have to wait so long, then?"

Shadow grins. "Look at the sky. See how red it is?"

Hachi looks up, confused, and nods. "It is sunset, after all! But what does that have to do with it?"

"It's making everything else look red as well, right?" Shadow points out. "Even the ground."

"Oh! So by painting the ground red..."

"It meant waiting until sunset, when shadows are longest, and finding where the god points then," Shadow finishes, triumphant. He turns to Joker, who has been silent since he first explained the riddle, and grins smugly. "Pretty neat, huh?"

Joker doesn't respond, instead continuing to pout silently. "What are you upset about?" Hachi asks, confused. "Isn't it good that Mister Shadow managed to figure out the riddle?"

"It's irritating that he figured it out before me," Joker mutters. "I feel like I lost. Plus, we had to wait all the way until sunset, so I'm hungry!" He sighs, then suddenly stops dead in his tracks. "Wait, did Manbou leave?"

"Uh, yeah?" Shadow turns. "You ran him off, remember?"

"Oh." Joker looks up at the sky. "Well, darn. I came here on his helicopter. How am I going to get home now...?"

Shadow and Hachi stare at him in amazed silence. "You... you didn't think of that earlier?" Shadow asks.

"Nope." Joker shrugs. "Oh, well. I'll find a way back."

"You're not riding with us," Shadow tells him sharply, but Joker merely grins. "Hurry up, the sun's going to set soon."

"Oh, there's a clearing ahead," Hachi shouts, and the three take off towards it.

"So, what are we looking for again?" Joker asks, gesturing to the empty clearing, and Shadow pauses. "You figured that out too, right?" He's smirking, and Shadow huffs.

"I hadn't gotten this far!" he protests. "Like you're so good at planning ahead!"

Joker crosses his arms. "I'll find a way back!"

"Um..." Hachi interrupts. "There's something weird in the ground here..."

The boys race each other to inspect what Hachi has found. There's a small red jewel in the ground, nearly unnoticeable except for its bright sparkle.

Joker whistles appreciatively. "It's got a reflective backing, angled so light only hits at sunset. Almost feels like a waste to dig it up."

"Almost," Shadow agrees, and pulls it out. The ground shifts around them, and they all back away as another stone block comes crashing out of the dirt. After overcoming the initial shock, they notice the carvings match the ones on the block at the statue's base. Shadow hesitantly places the tablet in the indent on top, and the lid opens with a scraping sound, revealing the jewel inside.

"The Scarlet Heart!" Shadow lifts it out of the block, holding it up so the other two can see. "It's pretty, isn't it?" Hachi nods, eyes wide with admiration. Joker smiles as well, and begins to respond.

There's a rustling sound behind them, and they all whirl around, prepared to face yet another attack. The elder of the village appears from the bushes, reciting the riddle on the tablet. He emphasizes the last line, "He who holds the evil god's heart shall be the hero of legend," and Shadow freezes.

Joker elbows him in the side. "Isn't that great, Shadow?" he asks, grinning. "You're a hero for returning their treasure to them!"

* * *

"So, we're not taking it after all?" Hachi asks, following Shadow to the beach. Night had fallen, and although the villagers had wanted to throw a party in his honor, Shadow had excused himself. He needed to get back to Rose, after all.

"Couldn't do it in that kind of atmosphere," he mutters, blushing. Joker snickers beside him, and he whirls to face him. "Yeah, you won. Are you proud of yourself?" he demands.

"Absolutely," Joker responds cheerfully. "Is that your boat on the beach?"

Shadow glances at the two boats sitting on the shore. "Well, one of them is. I don't know about the other one."

Joker follows his gaze. "Huh, I don't either..."

A shadow appears behind Joker, and Shadow jumps to warn him, but the attacker merely smacks him lightly on the head.

"Ow!" Joker whirls around, face lighting up. "Oh! Hey, Mom! What are you doing here?"

The white-haired man in question glares down at him. "I came to get you. What were you thinking, letting the general leave without you? You're too smart for such a silly mistake."

Joker looks away with a purposefully exaggerated scowl lining his face. "Couldn't they have sent someone nicer to come get me? Why'd you come, Roko?"

"Spade's busy," Roko replies, unimpressed. "You need to go home, now, before Silver Heart really gets mad."

Joker actually flinches at that threat. "Yeah, that'd be really bad." He turns and waves to Shadow. "Bye! I'll definitely beat you next time, so be prepared!" He runs off towards the boat, and Roko follows him with a tired sigh.

Shadow stands on the beach for a moment, then jumps. "Oh, Rose is going to be so mad," he whispers fearfully. "This was not supposed to take all day, and we were supposed to come back with a treasure."

"I think she'll understand!" Hachi reassures him. "Miss Rose is really nice!"

Shadow stares off into the distance. "Rose is _really_ scary when she's mad," he murmurs. "Let's hurry home, okay? The later we get back, the angrier she'll be." He grabs Hachi's hand and runs towards the boat. Hachi, deep in thought, follows without a word.

* * *

"Mister Shadow?" Hachi asks, once they're on the boat.

"Yeah?"

"What does Miss Rose do when she gets mad?"

Shadow stares off into the open ocean, silent. After a long pause, he opens his mouth and whispers, "Things fly that normally shouldn't."

"Like plates?" Hachi suggests.

"Try statues." Hachi is struck speechless, and Shadow laughs. "Yeah, she doesn't get mad easily, but she's terrifying when she is upset. Let's get a pie or something for her on the way home, okay?"

Hachi agrees quickly, and the boat speeds on.


End file.
